


Phoenix

by losticarus



Series: The Phoenix-verse [1]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: ??? - Freeform, Adult Eren Yeager, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Angst, Armin Arlert & Eren Yeager Are Best Friends, Badass Armin Arlert, Badass Eren Yeager, Badass Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Badass Mikasa Ackerman, Bottom Eren Yeager, Bottom Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), CEO Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Character's Name Spelled as Hanji, Drama & Romance, Eren Yeager Has Issues, Established Levi/Eren Yeager, Established Relationship, Everyone's a badass okay, F/F, F/M, Gender-Neutral Hange Zoë, Hange Zoë & Levi Are Best Friends, Hange Zoë Being Hange Zoë, Head Engineer Hange Zoe, Homophobia, I have written these tags like 5 billion times because I don't know how to save, LGBTQ Themes, Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin) Has Issues, Long-Haired Eren Yeager, Loosely based on the CW show 'Arrow', M/M, Mikasa is so done, Minor Armin Arlert/Erwin Smith, Minor Mikasa Ackerman/Annie Leonhart, Minor Mikasa Ackerman/Jean Kirstein, My First AO3 Post, My First Fanfic, One-Sided Levi/Petra Ral, Plot, Plot Twists, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Sassy Armin Arlert, Scientist Hange Zoë, Superhero Levi, Titan-Haired Eren Yeager, Top Eren Yeager, Top Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Vigilante Eren Yeager, please be gentle with me senpai
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-08
Updated: 2020-11-22
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:20:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 36,396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24464098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/losticarus/pseuds/losticarus
Summary: Superheroes, vigilantes, secret identities, miscommunication, emotionally stunted CEOs, and blood-thirsty news reporters, we have it all folks!Eren wouldn’t consider himself exceptional or special, he isn't a bonafide genius like Armin or strong like Mikasa who saw Eren his lowest and took care of him and swallowed her grief while her brother drowned in it Eren’s just this kid who got lucky with a psychotic father who decided to give him superhuman powers before disappearing off the face of the earth.Levi isn't lucky, and he's never considered himself as such. Losing the only family he's ever known and being tortured on a terrorist infested island for years proved that. Now his luck has changed after thirty years, or has it? He's the CEO of a multi-billion dollar weapons manufacturing cooperation and a superhero. Not to mention he has a reckless reporter as a boyfriend.Updates on Saturdays
Relationships: Armin Arlert & Eren Yeager, Armin Arlert/Erwin Smith, Hange Zoë & Levi, Hange Zoë & Levi & Erwin Smith, Levi & Eren Yeager, Levi & Eren Yeager & Hange Zoë, Levi & Erwin Smith, Levi/Eren Yeager, Mikasa Ackerman & Armin Arlert, Mikasa Ackerman/Annie Leonhart, Mikasa Ackerman/Jean Kirstein, Moblit Berner & Hange Zoë, Reiner Braun & Bertolt Hoover & Annie Leonhart
Series: The Phoenix-verse [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1784236
Comments: 70
Kudos: 133





	1. Chapter 1: Pilot

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fan work, so I'm kind of clueless about all of this. I'm using Ao3 as a way to exercise my severely neglected writing skills during quarantine. I hope you enjoy the first chapter! I'm kinda nervous about posting this ngl.

# Chapter 1: Pilot 

Eren Yeager is a damsel in frequent distress. 

At least that’s how the media paints him anyway. He can’t blame them, due to his track record of getting into albeit deadly situations daily only to be saved by Shiganshina’s very own superhero, Phoenix. 

The ocean green-eyed man was also a reporter for the Shiganshina Journal. Talk about cliches. A young innocent reporter, new to the real world, always finding himself at the wrong place at the wrong time when he’s whisked away by some man in a mask and metal boxes strapped to his hips. Honestly, it’s the stuff comic book readers feed on. 

Eren rolls his eyes as he reads the article “Eren Yeager Cheating on His Fiancé With Phoenix!? (Proof)” on his phone detailing his most recent interaction with the city’s beloved superhero. People fucking magazine, Eren chuckles to himself, what a hard-hitting exposé. 

Contrary to popular belief, the brunet has no intention of pursuing anything with the masked man, because he’s already found the man he’s going to be with for the rest of his life. Hopefully. 

Levi Ackerman. The CEO of Earth’s most advanced and biggest weapon’s manufacturing company, the man who he has spent an arduously long time pining after despite how unlikely it was for them to cross paths without trying to, the man who he’s spent nights with just conversing over everything and nothing at the same time, and the man he’s sharing an overtly expensive penthouse that Eren refuses not to pay for despite his relatively low paying job. 

They’ve been dating for around two years. Life is good for Eren, he’s got a job he loves, a handsome workaholic boyfriend with the kindest heart he has ever known, a loving family who will follow him to the depths of the earth as he would do the same for them, and friends he can spend hours upon hours talking to. Life isn’t just good. 

It’s phenomenal. 

At least, that’s how he paints himself to his loved ones anyway. 

“Levi!” Eren calls over to the couch, knowing that the mornings and early evenings were the only times he has his boyfriend’s full attention. Good thing it was 7:00 am. 

“What?” The man’s voice was muffled by his white leather couch cushions, despite his amazing work ethic and determination, Levi needed at least three hours off sleep to function. Having opted to face plant into the couch instead of enjoying a morning tea with his new ‘roommate’. 

“I just wanted to tell you that I’m cheating on you with Phoenix and that I’m leaving you to live a life of vigilantism in his name.” 

That seems to get the metallic eyed man to shake off his grogginess, as he gets up and makes his way towards Eren at the dining table, “Like hell,” He brushes Eren’s overgrown hair out of his face, leaning down to kiss Eren’s temple. 

“You’re right,” the brunet sighs, leaning into the older man’s touch, “I wouldn’t leave you for a life of vigilantism, I’d take you with me.”

“Good choice.” Levi hums, pouring himself a cup of freshly brewed earl grey, “Are you going to see Armin and Mikasa after work today?” 

“Yeah, I think Armin’s going through the wringer trying to get his doctorate. It’s kinda hard to watch.” Eren runs a hand through his unruly hair.

“Tell the kid good fucking luck, I wouldn’t want to be in his shoes.” Levi takes the seat across from Eren, entwining their legs lazily. 

“I’ll relay the first part for you.” 

“Tch.” 

“Love you too.” 

Levi just rolls his eyes fondly and takes Eren’s free hand into his smaller one as a response. 

Last night was their first night living together, it was a bit exhilarating having closed the lease on his older, much smaller, apartment. There was no turning back. 

Even though he has been to the older man’s penthouse multiple times throughout the years, something about it felt different now. Like the entire atmosphere slowly changed every time the ocean green-eyes man stepped foot in the door. At first, the penthouse was nearly sterile with its glass walls overlooking the city in the living room which was connected to the dining room and kitchen. Everything was white, and grey with hints of black. Minimalistic plain white carpeting and square-shaped furniture. Eren bet that Levi just hired an interior designer, gave the person a concept and a budget, and let them do whatever they wanted with the house. Nothing about it said “home” or “Levi”, like it was devoid of any feeling or personality. 

Over time that changed, and Eren convinced Levi to get rid of his old, fashionable sofa for a more comfortable one. It took a lot of pushing, but he finally got the billionaire to give in compromising on the color. 

Now it was Levi’s favorite piece of furniture in the oversized penthouse. Not that he would admit it even on his deathbed. 

A comfortable silence fell around them, like a warm blanket. Moments like this allowed Eren to take in the sight of the man that he loves without inhibition. 

Levi is currently lacking his usual polish, with the lack of sleep weighing his clear dark metallic eyes down, no surprise there because they did not get a lot of sleep last night. His inky hair was also uncharacteristically messy compared to the neatly styled undercut he consistently sports. The brunet felt a surge of fondness for the man in front of him, god how can someone be so cute yet so hot at the same time? He wore a plain grey T-shirt that fit snugly against the shorter man’s defined pecs and arms, and oversized flannel pajama pants that were loose around the waist but snug around his muscled thighs. God. 

Eren has never really considered himself a romantic guy. He usually found himself cringing at the thought of grand gestures, Valentine’s day, and big ostentatious marriage proposals. But goddamnit, he was melting at the sight of such a domestic looking Levi, and the overall shock that he would be seeing this every day from here on out just hit him like a train. How did he survive the last two years of not waking up to Levi every day? Scratch that. How did he survive his whole life not waking up to this man?  
Eren honestly doesn’t know how he did it. 

“You know, Eren, every time I see you on the news in my office I-” Levi cuts himself off, and opts to grab a hold of Eren’s hand. 

They’ve had this conversation a hundred times over and have fought about it one time too many, and the answer always remains the same. Eren will still get into the worst situations humanly possible, and Levi will worry as much as humanly possible. 

“Yeah, I know,” Eren replies, lifting the older man’s knuckles to his lips and kisses them softly in an attempt to quell the man’s obvious nerves arising. 

“And this new vigilante strutting around killing whoever the fuck he wants.” Levi inhales deeply, gripping Eren’s hand tighter, “I can’t have you running in the middle of that, so just this once, could you not follow try and get yourself killed every chance you get?” 

“It’s not my fault the city is overflowing with hard-hitting exposés, and idiots not smart enough to thoroughly cover their tracks. It’s the name of the game, love.” 

“You’re just proving my point. You’re too fucking smart for your own good.”

“Don’t give me all the credit, Armin’s a huge help.” 

“Let him focus on his doctorate then.”

“You’d have to pry my cases out of Armin’s cold dead hands if you want that to happen.” Eren chuckles. 

“Maybe I will.” Levi’s mouth tenses into a straight line, he only gets like this when he’s stressed. Eren hates that he’s the source, but he can’t change that without jeopardizing his priorities. 

“Good luck with that,” Eren sighs, “In all seriousness, I’ll be more careful. I promise, no more exploring abandoned buildings alone.” 

“How about not at all?”

“That’s a no can do babe.” 

“I would love to argue with you on this topic a bit more, but it’s 7:45 and I have to leave in 30.” 

“Shit, I’ll drive you since I’ve got work in an hour.” Eren downs the rest of his now lukewarm tea and springs into action. 

Levi hums in response, taking the two cups and teapot to the sink, rinsing the delicate objects of their contents with soap and water before setting them on the drying rack. If there’s one object in the world that Levi cares about, it’s his tea sets. All Eren needed to know was that they brought back fond memories from the older man’s adolescence. 

It was a delicate subject, not one Eren ever actively pushed. Just as Levi never pressed Eren about his childhood.

The only fact that Levi shared about his childhood was that his mother died from a sickness easily combated with medication, but they didn’t have the money or insurance to pay for it. Levi was nine, so when his mother died, he was stuck in the same one-room apartment with his mother’s rotting corpse for a week without food before his uncle, Kenny, came to visit. 

Levi had told Eren that story with such a closed-off expression, as though he was numb to the experience having already re-lived it in his head to last him a lifetime. In exchange, Eren also shared a tidbit of his formerly happy childhood, albeit vaguely, by responding to the story with a tactless “looks like we both watched our mothers die” which earned him a humorless laugh. 

Eren had known that Levi lived in poverty before Kenny Ackerman, the former CEO of the Scouts Corps, took him in as family before a twenty-one-year-old Levi Ackerman got stranded on an island for four years, then returned to Shiganshina to succeed his uncle as the youngest CEO to ever do so, but he never knew how impoverished the man was until he spoke about it.

Levi rarely talked about the island, despite the news being publicly televised and the media swarm that ensued after the then young heir came back from the dead. The doctors concluded that around twenty percent of his skin was scar tissue, and Eren had seen them, has, and will continue to touch them. Those scars were man-made, no matter how much the older man tried to avoid the topic. 

In lamens terms: Levi Ackerman could not catch a break and deserves to be happy. 

And the brunet would be damned if he couldn’t make that happen for the man who has already brought so much peace and normalcy to his hectic life. 

Being Rogue, the vigilante the metallic eyed man hates more than the world itself might make that task harder than necessary. 

  
  


“You loooooove him, don’t ya?” Hanji Zoe leaned over Levi’s desk and into his personal space, they’ve been annoying the hell out of him for the last ten minutes after they saw Eren drop Levi off in his dingy navy Toyota. A shocking entrance for his employees to see, he’s sure. 

Hanji Zoe, his head scientist and engineer, and closest friend have their hair was in the usual disarrayed ponytail, their white button-up was wrinkled and possessed a splattered coffee or oil stain. Their glasses were slightly askew, and brown eyes looking borderline crazed from the lack of sleep and proper self-care. A picture-perfect example of Hanji Zoe at their most productive. 

“God, how did you figure out? Was it the years of dating that tipped you off or was it my ring shopping?” Levi snarks back, opening his desktop to try and shield himself from the chaotic mess that is his head engineer, Hanji Zoe. 

“YOU’RE RING SHOPPING?” Hanji never knew when to keep their mouth shut, did they?

Levi deadpanned, “No, but thank you for notifying the whole damn floor anyway.”

“Ooooohhhhh,” Hanji slumped on his desk, making a mess of his neatly organized stacks of paperwork. “You’re so mean to me, munchkin.” 

Murder is still illegal, Levi reminds himself. 

“If you don’t have any updates to report on one of your latest projects, then I’m kicking you out of my office.” 

“So even Eren can’t get that stick out your ass,” Hanji pouts. 

“What do you have for me?” Levi presses again, not wanting to deal with his closest friend’s energy so early in the morning. 

“Well, I did manage to upgrade that thingy thing you’ve been bugging me about, and I’ve been sketching out some designs for a clean energy tank!” The crazed scientist is nearly buzzing with energy, or that might be the coffee taking control. 

“Fine, I’ll meet with you at my lab after work.” Levi waves them off, as though that would get rid of them. 

“Oh?” Hanji questions, “I’d think that you’d want to spend the rest of your day with your new bedmate?”

Levi rolls his eyes, “He’s got some family to see after work.”

“Yay! Looks like I get to nag you about-um- recent events if you catch my drift.” Hanji cackles as they walk out of Levi’s pristine office. 

That scientist knew nothing of subtlety, Levi sighs, rubbing his temples. 

“Mr. Ackerman?” Petra Ral, his secretary, opens his glass door, “There’s another buyer interested in your miniature nuclear power core, do you want me to put them on the line?”

This was interesting, usually, customers went to their sales clerks or lower departments when they wanted to buy something. But Levi conceded, maybe a miniature power core was something that deserved his attention. 

“Yes, thank you, Ms. Ral.” Levi nodded, picking up his phone, paying no mind to Petra’s blush as she went back to her desk. 

Once upon a time, when Levi had just come back from being stranded on a terrorist infested island for four years, he had a one-night-stand with the younger woman. Not his wisest venture, but then again, nothing he did in his mid-twenties was wise. 

Petra is incredibly qualified and capable of doing her job, Levi would even call her a friend and ally. But despite the years of growth each of them has undergone, she still possesses a schoolgirl crush on the CEO. 

At first, he never understood why the woman couldn’t just fucking let go. But after meeting Eren, the most stubborn and strong-willed man he has ever met, something clicked. To have someone who he can’t get out of his head no matter what he does, no matter how hard he tries to avoid them, his mind always comes back to the spark in ocean green eyes as he laughs at a particularly unfunny joke. Or how Levi's eyes drew only to him in a crowded room. He understood. 

And that scared Levi shitless.

You can’t stop loving someone no matter how hard you try. And, for that, he felt bad for Petra, because she was stuck loving someone who would never love her back. 

He would never tell her this in a million years. She didn’t need his pity.

“Yes? This is Levi Ackerman speaking.” 

“Hello, Mr. Ackerman, this is Zachary Fitz, and I was wondering…” 

Levi listened intently at the man’s requests he wanted to know if it was possible to order a mass quantity of these miniature nuclear cores. This sounded more like an engineering problem, but he understood that the man was the owner of his own company and needed a way of supplying his factories and buildings with energy blah, blah, blah, boring shit. 

Hopefully, Hanji doesn’t blow anything up before he gets to them. 

As the workday was coming to a close, Levi knew he was in for a dreadfully boring explanation of the new upgrades to his gear. 

“It’s not your gear Levi, it’s Phoenix’s” Hanji once said to him, rolling their eyes. 

“What the fucking fuck was the difference? We’re the same fucking person.” Levi replied.

“It’s the principle of the matter,” And with that Levi threw his hands up. There was no arguing with madness. He should know. 

Now that he’s made the thirty-minute drive to his “secret lair” or “lab” or whatever Hanji wants to call the place where he keeps all of his high-tech equipment and suit in. Even though he was on good terms with the police, it didn’t mean that they were not itching to know who the man behind the mask was. 

It was situated underneath a nightclub Levi conveniently bought after his four-year vacation. Playing the role of a freshly traumatized rich boy with self-destructive tendencies a little too well, it was the perfect cover for Phoenix. Although he had to admit, Phoenix was not the name he would have gone with, but it’s what the public wanted and he had grown on the name over the past couple of years. He did one smart thing when he was twenty-six, at least. 

As a long owed favor to a close ally, Gunther Schultz, Levi gave him the job of running the high-end night club. The man was in dire straights, having just lost his full-time job as an office worker, and he had the brains to figure out Levi’s alter-ego and keep it on the down-low. For that, Levi decided to help the man out, even though he didn’t have any prior experience in this field of work. He thrived in this high-speed environment and has made the club one of Levi’s most lucrative business ventures. 

“Good to see ya, boss,” Gunther greets warmly, as he was setting up for the night-time buzz that was sure to come. Levi had some time to miss the rush, considering that it was 6:00 pm and the crowd didn’t get into until around midnight. “Dr. Zoe’s in the back waiting for you.” 

Gunther is a relatively soft-hearted but stern man, with an olive skin tone, and bad tastes in haircuts. Levi has trusted him with his life time and time again, and so far he hasn’t done anything to make the metallic-eyed man question that judgment. 

Levi nods a thanks and goes to the kitchen, opens the freezer door, which was a room in it of itself, and pressed his code into the keypad hidden behind a large frozen chicken, for a frozen door to open, revealing a sleek metal elevator. 

Stepping into the confined space, after the door slipped shut, the elevator immediately took him down to his lab. It was a bitch to get this built without the construction workers questioning why they had to build a secret elevator in a freezer, so he just told them that it was his BDSM playroom to get them off his back. It worked. 

“Hey there short stack, you’re late.” Hanji smiles as she looks up from her state of the art computer. 

“Tch,” Levi scoffed, taking his black overcoat off and hanging it up on his coat hanger. He might be a superhero, but he still had class. “Did you manage to fix my ODM gear?”

“Oh, better than that, I made your wires more streamlined and thinner. This means they’ll be faster to deploy, and they’ll be able to grapple onto buildings and glass better, but that also means you can’t carry as much as before.” Hanji’s mouth tenses into a small line at that last admission.

“That might become a problem in the long run,” Levi thinks out loud, although the benefits did outweigh the cons for the moment. 

“Tell me about it, maybe if I had Moblit’s head he could help me come up with a solution.” Hanji laments. 

“No,” Levi says, already strapping his Omni-Directional Mobility gear to his hips having gotten used to the confusing mess of straps Hanji calls a harness. 

“I know, I know what you’re going to say ‘we’ve already blown our cover to too many people, shitty four eyes, you might as well tell the entire public at this point’,” Hanji says in an obnoxiously deep voice and tries to imitate his deadpan stare. They were doing better than Oluo, Levi could them that, “blah blah blah. I’m just saying, Moblit could be of help.” 

“If you can find a way to ask for help without revealing my identity, then you’re free to do whatever the hell you want.” Levi buckles his last strap, and leans against Hanji’s desk, crossing his arms. “And I don’t sound like that.” 

“That’s better than nothing, and yes you do.” Four eyes blows a strand of hair out of their face, “Do you think your cute reporter can wait a while for you to come home? Because that vigilante, um, with the glowing knives has been spotted in the shadier parts of town.” 

“You mean Rogue?” Levi raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah yeah, that’s the superhuman one!” Hanji tapped away at their keyboard, “See? He’s been spotted on these security cams…” The head scientist turned their computer screen towards Levi, the vigilante in his signature leather suit, with dagger sheaths strapped to visibly toned thighs, “he’s usually not that sloppy to be caught unless he’s trying to get spotted then that would make more sense, I wonder who it could be. Maybe it’s you, or maybe it’s someone…” 

Levi flicks the back of their head, “Oi, I can’t understand a word you’re saying when you mutter to yourself like a lunatic.” 

“Are you sure you’re just not too short to hear me?” Hanji turned their screen back to themself, tapping away to, presumably, triangulate Rogue’s position with other security cams.

“You’re sitting dumbass.”

“Exactly.”

Murder is illegal, Levi reminds himself for the hundredth time today. 

“I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that for your own physical health.” 

“You looooove me, and you know it.” They didn’t even have the decency to look up from their screen.

“Tch.” Levi turned to get suited up, mourning the time he could be spending with his boyfriend right now. 

He was probably already at home, searching for another absurdly dangerous story with nothing except a blond genius and an overly-protective adoptive sister, who may or may not be Levi’s relative, to be his impulse control. 

“Erwin just texted me something,” Hanji calls over, as Levi is unbuckling his ODM gear to put on his suit, he had to admit, Hanji did a good job. It was much easier to move when he’s walking, and he could only assume that was also the case with combat as well. 

“What?” 

“He wanted me to ask you if you could get him a meeting with Eren’s blond friend, Armin. Since you won’t answer him.”  
“Maybe he shouldn’t ask me stupid shit then.” Levi rolled his eyes, ducking behind his metal partition, slipping on a black long-sleeved skin-tight guard, as well as pants. “And why? He’s Eren’s boss, he should ask him.”

Erwin Smith, Levi’s closest friend next to Hanji, and the most infuriatingly functional and emotionally healthy out of the trio. He is the voice of reason and the one who comes up with convoluted plans that always seem to work out. Not that Levi would complain, he begrudgingly respects the man and all that he has done to help Levi in the past. He’s saved the hero’s life more times than he can count, and Levi has been doing everything he can to repay that debt. 

That doesn’t mean that the metallic-eyed man isn’t going to give the, albeit, handsome man shit for his caterpillar eyebrows though. 

Seriously, he's surprised those things haven't crawled off his face yet. 

“He said it would be improper to talk about personal matters with a subordinate.” 

And he too damn polite. 

“If he’s not trying to fuck my boyfriend, I don’t see the problem.” He was now strapping on his shoulder and chest armor with nimble pale fingers, “Oh, I get it, he’s trying to fuck my boyfriend’s brother.” 

“Bingo!” He could hear Hanji cackle, shouldn’t they be keeping an eye… or two on Rogue?

“... Tell him, I’ll ask Eren about it. But that’s all.” 

The engineer whoops in celebration, “Good, he did send Eren your way back in the good ol’ days. Ha! Remember, you were so beseeched by him that you asked Erwin to send Eren to interview you? I’ve never seen you so desperate before ‘please Erwin. I’ll never be able to have an honest relationship with him if I’m behind this wretched mask’,” Levi rolls his eyes. ‘Beseeched’? Really? 

The now thirty-one-year-old CEO did strike up a romance with the younger man as Phoenix 3 years ago, but abruptly cut it off after one… or maybe two rooftop kisses in the middle of the night, by telling the reporter that it was too dangerous for him to get involved. And the man accepted Phoenix’s boundaries graciously, with a heartbroken stare. Which tore at Levi’s insides to this day. As thrilling as it was, with the reporter constantly getting into danger and the more time he spent with the man the more he fell for him and all, it was not a basis for a long-lasting relationship. And for the first time in his life, he wanted that with someone, specifically, he wanted that with Eren. 

So he asked Erwin to send Eren over to his office to conduct an interview on his latest controversy, whatever it was that particular week. It took some convincing, but Erwin did as he promised and after the interview, the steel-eyed man asked the brunet out for coffee and they kept in contact. 

It did take around a year for Levi to realize that his feelings weren’t one-sided and that Eren was not still, in fact, in love with his alter-ego. Which was both a relief and a terrifying factor in their getting together. 

“My life isn’t a romantic drama, four eyes. Get your mind out of the clouds,” Levi then throws his green hooded cloak over his shoulders, which hides his Main Housing unit attached to his lower back the only weak point in his gear and fastens a matching mask over his eyes. Stepping out from the partition, he makes sure his ODM gear is fastened properly and that his controller grips are attached to his blades properly. 

“I restocked your blades, by the way, don’t go using them all up tonight,” Hanji notes, “Rogue’s in the abandoned building on Nedlay street. Seems like he’s looking for somebody.” 

Levi hums in response, wherever Rogue went chaos followed, and even though he wasn’t a direct enemy, he needed to be handled. And quickly if Levi had any shot of taking down this one particular underground group that was slowly taking over Shiganshina. 

All he knew right now was that nearly every villain he has fought for the past year has only answered to the Laughing Giant. Even that terrorist who turns himself into fucking electricity, blows nuclear power plants up for fun, and calls himself Phantom because he thinks he’s hot shit.

For some reason, this Laughing Giant has everyone wrapped around his presumably large finger. And Levi has to figure out how and why. 

And he can’t do that if all of his leads end up dead when he gets there, because some kid decides to play hero but doesn’t know which game he’s playing. Rogue rarely left people of importance alive and is always two steps ahead of the hero. Much to Levi’s chagrin. 

The ‘Phoenix Squad’ as Erwin dubbed them, had figured out long ago that both Rogue and Phoenix hold a common goal, it was just that Rogue’s motives were unknown and he got in their way too frequently to be an ally. 

Levi was out the door before Hanji could say another word, and by ‘door’ that means the concealed back exit of the lab that is big enough to allow a car in and opens up to the back alleyway of the club where no security cameras can be found because Levi owned that area. 

He propels himself from building to building by spinning in the air and swiveling his hips and body to conserve as much pressurized gas as he could. 

Levi could make it back in time for dinner.


	2. Chapter 2: Pilot Pt. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now introducing your friendly neighborhood vigilante, Rogue. Being a vigilante isn't always about fighting villains, it's also about terrifying them (Warning: this chapter deals with a pedophile but it does not depict him doing anything with a child explicitly)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to regular_john and cowboymom2 for beta reading this chapter, you guys are lifesavers!

# Chapter 2: Pilot 

Eren manages to get himself caught on every security camera on the street, it was an act of utter stupidity. It was like asking for someone to kill him on the spot. 

Good. 

Sitting on a lone fold-up chair in the middle of an empty 5th floor of an abandoned building felt eerie. The only light source being the city lights outside the window and the faint glow of Eren’s literally self-made crystal knives that shone through his leather thigh holsters and hips. 

The twenty-five-year-old reporter could create iridescent crystals out of his own skin, it was painful, but Eren could virtually heal immediately after making them, plus they were virtually indestructible so it was a fine trade-off. Making his own weapons and blades was not the easiest thing in the world and took him years to master, but now he could fling razor-sharp darts from his arms without even batting an eyelid. 

He knows his current, and only, lead is a bit of a cowardly mess that’s also pretty good with computers. So Armin sent him a little message in the vigilante’s stead, to the man’s precious computer; stating that if he did not meet Rogue at the abandoned building on Nedlay St., a stash of child porn would be leaked to the police, and news outlets (not to mention the black market deals involving sex slavery). The usual scummy bullshit. Now that the coward has seen the security footage, signaling that Rogue is there, all he had to do was wait. 

On a regular day, Rogue would bag this high-class bastard and leave his body to rot until the police found him. But he had something the superhuman wants, so that would have to wait for another day. 

He knows Armin’s plans are usually foolproof and if anything were to happen, he’d be able to get Eren out of it. But there was the possibility that he could have bitten off more than he could chew this time around, but that was normal for them. 

“Alright, remember stick to the plan, no adlibbing like last time,” Armin says through his earpiece, he never did like the killing part of the job. 

Eren didn’t either, but if it came between the life and death of innocents, then he’d gladly get his hands dirty. 

He hears footsteps, “I didn’t think you could get any more brazen after last week, now look at us.” A familiar deep modulated voice says. 

Phoenix. Shit. 

He could feel Armin’s nerves through the earpiece, “I could say the same about you,” Rogue crosses his arms. 

“Why are you here?” Phoenix demanded, in his cloaked glory. There was a reason everyone calls him Phoenix, it was the insignia of two wings, one black, one white crossing each other on the back of his cloak. And he was first sighted rescuing a woman from a collapsing burning building, the first videos of him online were of him emerging from the flames. 

A bit on the nose, but the media ran with it. 

Rogue rolls his eyes, “what’s the point of asking such a basic question? I’m here to have a little rendezvous with someone, obviously.” 

They stared each other down, the tension in the room could’ve been cut with a butter knife, “This isn’t some fucking joke.” The vigilante couldn’t see the hero’s eyes with the man’s green hood shrouding his face.  
“I’d argue the opposite, but my guest will be coming any minute so you can either stand with me quietly and get some of that valuable information you’ve been seeking, or we can fight and we both get nothing but bruises and broken bones.” Rogue smirks, “Your pick.” 

Phoenix keeps a blank stare, there’s something eerily comforting in it that makes Eren’s skin crawl, maybe it was a resurgence of his past feelings for the man. But that couldn’t be the case, Eren only had eyes for Levi, in or out of the mask it didn’t matter. 

The hooded hero reveals nothing in his movements. No sign of aggression, but nothing akin to a stand-down either. 

After a moment, Phoenix speaks, “Fine. A temporary truce. If you try anything that truce goes out the window.”  
“Fine by me,” Rogue didn’t make any sudden moves, just in case the hero was feeling a bit trigger happy today. He personally didn’t want to get impaled by one of those grapplers again, it hurt like a bitch even _with_ super healing. 

Phoenix didn’t respond and moved to the far corner of the room, where he would be partially hidden in the shadows. 

One crisis averted, for now, might as well let the hero listen in on this one. It did mean that he wouldn’t be able to put the scum in his rightful place five-feet under today with goody-two-shoes watching his every move with the utmost suspicion. There will be other nights. 

Hopefully.

A heavy set of footsteps pierced through their torturous silence, startling Rogue before he schooled his expression. 

Showtime. 

  
  


“Nice of you to join us, Sergent Major Gross. I had a feeling you would take me up on my offer.” Rogue smiles, revealing pearly teeth, even in the dim of the abandoned building, his modulated voice dipping coldly.

Phoenix nearly scoffs at the arrogance the kid carries, like nothing in the world can hurt him. He recognizes the man, much to his dismay, Gross has been a long time customer of Scout Corp and has had multiple run-ins with the police. Not that you would see anything on the guy’s record, he has connections everywhere. 

The man is ugly. That’s all Levi could really give on the matter. Although, he has the cold colorless eyes of a man seriously deprived of an ounce of humanity.

Levi could admit, whatever the man did to get snatched up Rogue’s claws, he felt no pity. 

“You- you said you would come alone!” Gross simpered, already starting to sweat buckets. 

“I don’t think you’re in the position to negotiate, Sergent Major.” Rogue replied coldly, getting up from his seat, “Please. Have a seat.” 

Gross’s eyes demanded the hero’s help, all Levi did was shrug. A truce was a truce. 

Phoenix could see the blood-thirsty glint in Rogue’s glowing blue eyes, but he will not allow this man to die tonight no matter what he has done. Justice needed to be sought the right way, not through death. 

With that, the man complied with Rogue’s ‘request’ and sat down, quivering, “What is it that you want? I do have a busy schedule.”  
“I’m sure you can spare some time for me.” The vigilante yanks the man’s arms behind the back of the chair and calcifies the man’s hands together with his signature crystals in a jagged makeshift handcuff with a flash of light. 

The Sergeant Major was surprisingly docile for someone who was being immobilized, “To cut to the chase, I want everything you have on the doctor Grisha Yeager.” Rogue swiftly pulls out a crystal dagger from his sheath, pressing it against the man’s pudgy bearded face “And I won’t be asking twice.” 

Grisha Yeager? What the fuck did Rogue want with Levi’s boyfriend’s father? How did he tie in with the Laughing Giant? He could already feel Hanji vibrating with questions through his earpiece.  
“I don’t know anything!” The man breathes heavily, struggling against his confinements. 

Rogue hums pressing hard enough to draw blood, Levi reels himself back from intervening. Torture has never been his favorite method of as of recent years, but he understands that this is a necessity to get something about the Laughing Giant. 

“Rethink that before you open your mouth again.” Rogue looks unearthly as the glowing crystal illuminates his masked face, smirking, “I have to admit, I don’t really get off on seeing little girls torn apart and eaten by hounds. But to each their own. Although, I’m sure the public would have a more extreme reaction. Doncha think?” 

Phoenix’s breath got caught in his throat, he knew the Sergeant Major had… interesting tastes, but he thought it was along the lines of exotic prostitutes and weird kinks. Not _that_. 

“Okay! Okay!” The trash practically screams, “I knew Grisha and his sister when they were children! I-I had the girl…” 

No wonder the vigilante chose an abandoned building, he caught a loud one. 

“What?” Rogue demanded to the sobbing man. 

“Please! Let me go and I’ll give you anything you want!”

“You. Had. The. Girl. What.” Rogue punctuates every word with another press of the blade into the man’s cheek. That’s going to scar. 

“Killed! Torn apart! There, I said it. Is that what you wanted you sadistic bastard.” 

Levi does scoff at that, pot calling the kettle black. 

Seemingly unphased by the admission, Rogue presses, literally, leaning over the man to look in his eyes, “No. Go on. Please.” 

“The bastard some-somehow learned what happened to his sister and came after me years later. Told me if I wanted to live another day, I’d give him my resources to create some type of weapon. I-I said yes!” Fat tears, sweat, and blood were running down the man’s face. 

Levi fights a grimace. 

“Go on.” 

“He-his son! The blond one! He reported to the military that Grisha wa-was plotting a terrorist attack, and-and we used that to catch him. But he was already gone when he-we got to his residence!” 

“Son?” Rogue mutters softly, Levi could barely hear him. 

“Yes! Yes! The kid had a good head on his shoulders!” Gross’s relief spread across his face at Rogue’s apparent lack of knowledge on Grisha’s other son. 

But Eren never mentioned having another biological brother. His only family was Mikasa and Armin after his mother died in a terrorist attack when he was ten. Could Grisha have been the one to plot the attack? He needed a timeline of events and stats on everyone involved. 

“The boy’s name?”  
“Why do you need that? Aren’t you here for Grisha?” Gross smiles emptily at the vigilante’s intrigue. 

Rogue moves his other gloved hand and stabs a second dagger into the man’s thigh, and digs it in, “The boy’s name?” 

The temporary reprieve the Sergeant Major had was wiped away, “Let me go! Let me go and I’ll tell you!” 

“No.” 

“You-you can’t kill me! I know too much for me to die!” The man was looking around the room manically, trying to find an escape. 

“Perhaps.” 

Rogue sighs, he’s been around the block enough to know a piece of trash like Gross wouldn’t budge if he thought he had an advantage. 

Rogue pulls his dagger out of the man’s thigh and sheaths it in a fluid movement, ignoring Gross’s scream in pain, and pushes the captive along with the chair to the floor, sliding it over to the hero. “You can have it, I don’t need it anymore.” 

Phoenix doesn’t reply, as Rogue exits the fifth floor by jumping out of a broken window. Right. Superhuman bullshit. 

“Please! Please take me back to my wife and kids.” The bleeding man looks up to him with vacant eyes. 

Phoenix just stares at the man and sighs, looks like he’ll be testing out how many pounds his gear can handle today after all. 

Eld better kiss his ass when he brings this present over to the police station tonight, as he was going to miss dinner with Eren to be able to get across town with Gross in tow. 

Levi got home at 11:00 pm, after Gross’s constant struggling, then the police actually took the man into custody. Apparently there was already a warrant out for his arrest as they received anonymous files that detailed Gross’s activity on the black market. Especially in human trafficking; plus the stashes of child porn he possessed. 

And there was no hope in covering it up, Rogue made sure of that. Levi checked his phone while he was in the car and the information had been leaked to all of the major news outlets. 

He didn’t like Rogue one bit, but he had to respect the man’s thoroughness; not that he’d expect anything less from the ruthless vigilante. 

“Sorry, I’m late. I know I promised to make dinner.” Levi calls out from the entrance hallway, knowing Eren would somewhere near, hanging up his overcoat. 

The metallic-eyed man raises an eyebrow from the lack of reply, after taking off his shoes and lining them up neatly near the door, noting that Eren’s beat-up leather dress boots were there as well, he goes to the living room. 

“Eren?” The metallic-eyed man calls out again, none of the lights were on, the only thing allowing Levi to see was the city lights from the view overlooking the city. 

“I’m here.” A quivering voice supplies, then he spotted his boyfriend… well, what he presumed was his boyfriend under a thick comforter from their bed. 

The hero didn’t bother to turn on the lights, concluding that Eren had turned them off for a reason, “What happened?” He asks, he’s never heard Eren sound so timid. 

“I just had a tough day at work,” Eren wrapped himself even tighter into the blanket bundle. 

God, he’s so cute. No. Comfort boyfriend first, then lament his cuteness, Levi determines. 

He sits tentatively near the blanket pile, “Do you want to talk about it?”  
He internally cringes at his inexperience with feelings, how does Eren do this every day like it’s second nature? 

“No.”  
“Okay,” Now what? “ Can I see your face?”  
Eren uncovers a part of his face, even without light, the older man can tell that the younger’s ocean-green eyes were puffy and reddened from crying. 

Guilt pierces his heart, he has no intention of revealing what he’s learned today to the man that he loves. The fact that Eren could have a brother that he doesn’t even know exists, and an aunt that’s long gone needs to be kept to himself and the squad until he confirms the validity of that news. If Rogue was looking into Grisha Yeager means that he has ties to the Laughing Giant, he just needed to figure out how. And he couldn’t let Eren get in the middle of this, even if it meant learning more about the father that abandoned him as a child. 

Everything in Levi’s heart told him to tell the ocean-green-eyed man everything, to try to make sense of the Doctor. But his brain told him otherwise. There would be too many questions that he wouldn’t be able to answer if he did. ‘How do you know this? None of that information is documented, I’ve checked everywhere for it? What did you do to get this information?’. How could Levi say ‘Sorry honey, but I'm the superhero that fell in love with you who then arranged to meet you in real life, so that I could have a chance at trying to get you to fall in love with the real me instead.’? That would send the brunet packing, and that’d be exactly what Levi would do as well.

Levi wouldn’t really call himself dramatic or emotional in the slightest. He got the job done and moved on. That’s how he’s lived his entire life, he fucked when he wanted to and punched when he needed to. This is why he’s so out of his depth when it comes to Eren because the man is an inherently emotional person who feels for others and their struggles to such a personal extent. He has a kind heart and would do anything for the people he loves. Did Levi really have the right to break his heart again? 

Instead of voicing his internal struggle, he takes Eren’s face into his hands, rubbing away the tear tracks that ran down his face, “You don’t have to talk about it, but I’ll be here when you want to. Okay?” Levi states softly, that only earned him a fresh wave of tears and a sniffle. 

What now? That was the wrong choice of words. Should he push for an answer? No. Should he talk some more? A big no. 

Levi does the only thing he can think of, and tightly wraps his arms around his blanketed Eren, pressing his face into the CEO’s neck. It’s in a bit of an awkward position, but Eren melts in the touch anyways and Levi can feel the tears bleed through his silk white button-up. 

Surprisingly enough, he isn’t disgusted or annoyed by it. All he does is hold Eren tighter. 

The couple stays like that for a while, just reveling in the other’s comforting touch. Levi could feel tears prickling at his eyes for the guilt he bears and the pain wracking through his boyfriend’s body. He doesn’t cry, he doesn’t deserve Eren’s sympathy. Eren’s breathing starts to even out and soon enough he’s inhaling quietly and nuzzling into Levi’s neck, leeching the minimal amount of warmth the older man has. 

“Sorry,” Eren hiccups, drawing back from the embrace slightly, “I didn’t want to ruin our first full day together.”  
Levi brushes Eren’s over-grown hair out of his face, “I should be the one apologizing, I came home late.” 

“You own a company, I expect as much.” Eren gives a watery smile, making Levi want to hold the man even tighter, as though that would erase all of his pain. 

“At least yell at me, for god’s sake, I should’ve been here for you.” 

“No, it’s fine. I just got back like an hour ago.” 

“Tch. You need to stop overworking yourself.” 

“Touché.” 

Levi scoffs, “Looks like we’re both workaholics then.”

“Seems so.” Eren stares into Levi’s eyes and the raven captivated by the golden fleck that resides in ocean green. 

The next moment, the brunet is kissing him. It’s sweet and warm, as Levi enjoys the feeling of Eren’s plump lips on his own slightly chapped ones. Cupping the brunet’s face in his pale hands, he deepens the kiss, before the younger pulls away with a lovestruck smile. 

“How about you make me that dinner you promised?” He presses another chaste kiss on Levi’s lips before he jumps up and stretches his back. 

“Ass. It’s nearly midnight,” Levi smirks. 

Eren shrugs, “Why not? We both haven’t eaten.” 

The CEO hums, “Alright, I’ll prepare some fried rice.” He gets up as well and makes his way over to the meticulously cleaned kitchen that is his state of the art pride and joy. 

“Love you!” Eren laughs, back to his energetic self. 

“Love you too, brat,” Levi rolls his eyes and gets his rice cooker out. 

Their days may have been utter shit, but at least the two men had each other to come home to when it was all over. That was more than the city’s hero could ever ask for. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Eren's pretty shocked by this revelation, having already confirmed the validity of Gross's claims with Armin's help. Of course, the reader wouldn't know it... if I hadn't just spoiled that part. But it explains why Eren's so distraught and can't tell Levi what the fuck is up. 
> 
> Also, the couples that I tag in the relationship section will get their own chapter. Like Erwin and Armin, Mikasa and Annie, ya know more gayz because it's pride month every month but especially this month. 
> 
> And thank you for reading to the end of the chapter. Here have a smiley face :)


	3. Chapter 3: To you Pt. 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rogue's origin story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a heavy chapter ngl. My bbys Eren and Mikasa don't deserve such bs from me. Forewarning: there's a lot of blood.

# Chapter 3: To You, Part 1 

His mother wanted to go to an art gallery opening to support one of her, in Eren’s opinion, annoying friends. The whole family was supposed to go,  but Mikasa came down with a cold so Grisha had to stay home to take care of her.

Their lives were just getting on track, after living in the lower districts for the majority of Eren and Mikasa’s lives. They moved to a plain suburban neighborhood with white picket fences and condescending neighbors. Grisha was finally able to resume medical school, and Carla was able to pick up a full-time job as a secretary at a law firm. 

Life was good. 

“Are you sure you want to go Eren? We can stay at home and watch some TV with Mikasa?” Carla regarded her son with kind amber eyes. 

His mother was ethereal in a way no one has ever been, she had the strength to move mountains with just her will alone. When times got tough, Carla would be the one to pick up the extra job to allow Grisha to continue studying, she was the one that tucked Eren and Mikasa and sometimes Armin in at night, she was the one to make home  _ home.  _ She had a simple beauty, and elegance that passed onto Mikasa. Her dark brown hair was always tied in a low side pony-tail hap haphazardly, as she was a busy woman. She always wore something simple like jeans and a sweater or blouse. Her face held  the fine lines showing the life she has led so far with her crow's feet  etched deep and endearingly into her once doll-like face. Her eyes though, her eyes stood out even in Eren’s faded memory. They were filled with such resilience he would say they resembled steel. In the right lighting, they shone gold and fierce while in others they were kind and soft reminding him of the color of leaves in the spring. 

He should’ve said yes, he should’ve begged to stay home with his family, he should’ve done  _ something _ . He didn’t even want to go to this stuffy party full of rich people, but remembering the way his mom’s eyes lit up at the prospect of being able to go out for something not work or children related for the first time in years when she announced that she was invited by her friend, held him back. 

Instead, he said, “No it’s fine, I’m sure Mikasa would like me to tell her what art was there.” 

Carla smiled warmly at that and ruffled Eren’s short hair, “Aren’t you being a good big brother?” 

When they got there, Eren was already bored. His mom was out on the patio drinking golden liquid and laughing with a bunch of blonde ladies wearing too much jewelry. 

The only person there to keep him company was Hannes, a family friend, and a drunk. 

The ocean-green eyed boy puffed his cheeks and rested his head on a clothed table, “Why are there no kids here?” 

God he wished Armin were here, he’d rattle off on just how many materials were used to make that elaborate chandelier. Or he’d tell the thread count of the table cloths instead. He also wished Mikasa was there as she wouldn’t be sick, and Eren would have someone to laugh at his stupid jokes, whereas Armin would give him a blank stare or a giggle. 

“Because they’re stuffy ass rich people.” Hannes slurred, downing another glass of golden liquid. 

Eren asked, looking up at the man with big innocent teal eyes, “Then why are you here?”

“Obviously,” Hannes said, already another flute in hand, “For the refreshments.” 

“So you’re a freeloader.” Eren’s eyes narrowed at the prospect. 

“Sure, if that’s what you want to call it.” Hannes’ cheeks were flushed and his eyes were glossy. Why did Eren even bother trying to have a conversation with a drunk man? Because he was bored. Like super-duper, really bored. 

Art is fun, but all the art pieces are boring. One painting was on the wall, and it was a blank canvas. He asked the lady running the gallery if it was some sort of mistake and she said the painting was made out of thousands of different shades of off-white to represent the “blankness of our minds and the simplicity of our lives”.

Eren concluded that the lady was on some type of drug, even stronger than the ones Hannes was on. 

I can’t report this back to Mikasa! He thought, she would die from boredom if the sickness didn't kill her first. Not that the cold would kill her, he was just being dramatic. 

He stuck his tongue out at Hannes since his mother was outside and couldn’t see him. Hannes just replied with a chuckle and another gulp of his glass. For a police officer, he sure is a deadbeat, Eren thought idly. 

The pristine glass doors of the patio opened as the group of expensively dressed women walked back into the main area. Carla dropped by the table, which was right underneath the fancy chandelier Armin would’ve loved. 

“How are you boys holding up?” Carla patted Eren’s slumped back with a gentle hand, soothing his boredom. 

“Fine,” Eren suppressed a grumble, he was here for his mom, now was not the time to act like a spoiled brat. 

Hannes drunkenly smiled, his face flushed with alcohol, “Just fantastic.” He explained while sloshing his glass around. 

“That’s good,” His mom asked pleasantly. “now that I’ve caught up with my friends, do you want to go home to your father and Mikasa?”

Eren considered it, his mom did fulfill her goal in hanging out with her friends and spending a bit of one on one bonding time with her son. “Ye-” 

A high pitched scream erupted from the crowd, and the three swiveled their gazes to the source. Maybe someone got cut on a piece of glass? Or some poor idiot broke a 4 million dollar art piece? The possibilities were endless. 

Except not really, when _something_ started to grow in size in the crowd. In a flash of light, the walls started trembling as the _thing_ tore open the ceiling with its sheer size. It had human feet, well the shape of them anyway.   
“Oh, what a pleasant surprise, ladies and gentlemen,” A voice boomed over the masses of stunned and panicking people. 

Eren couldn’t move, he couldn’t feel his mom’s deathly grip on his frail wrist or the way his heart stopped beating for just a second. 

All he could do was hear the man’s crisp and clear voice. It sounded oddly familiar, yet cold and with the amount of force that was equivalent to a hurricane. It made people listen. 

He didn’t need to listen right now, Eren needed to  _ move _ . 

With the chaos swirling around them, his mother stayed stone-faced with eyes pinned to the once immaculate and modern glass and steel staircase, now starting to become covered in dust and debris; a direct contrast from her happy yet tired expression. 

Eren followed his mom’s suit and turned his gaze over to the staircase in shambles, there was a man wearing a cream-colored trench coat with a red band with what seemed to be a golden star secured on his right arm. He wore these weird goggles that obscured his eyes, but he had neatly styled blond hair and a slim build. 

“Eren.” His mom hauled him to his feet since Hannes was already standing up, “We need to get out of here now.” Her tone was urgent, the way she had used it when Eren came home with a broken bone from picking a fight with some neighborhood kids. 

“My experiment worked.” The man cackled. Did he have some sort of microphone? Why was his voice so loud? 

That only ensued more screaming, crying, and running. 

“But-” People were stampeding towards the door, but there was no way they could get out of the building before it collapsed. 

It didn’t matter, Carla was determined to get Eren out that door. 

Then the presumed giant started to move, but instead of walking forward, due to the hole it was stuck in, or what others would call it the ceiling, it did something else. It _ lifted  _ the ceiling slowly and it’s bony hands disrupted the chandelier, knocking its place on the wall off. 

The chandelier was falling towards Eren at full speed. 

Eren closed his eyes and braced himself for impact and all he felt was a harsh push, knocking him off his feet and sliding the boy onto his arse. The screams of people and shattering glass deafened his ears. 

He opened his eyes to see that the ceiling had been ripped off the building, revealing a starless night sky and a humanoid face with a permanent mockery of a smile showing more teeth than any one human can have and vacant eyes. It had dull blonde hair,  mocking what a human looks like with gangly legs and a bony torso moving at an almost lethargic pace. 

Eren froze, his gaze shifted downward, and his mother’s body was being crushed by the crystal chandelier right in front of his eyes. 

“MOM?” He scrambled towards her, not feeling the cuts and stings from the flying glass that sliced through him. 

She lifted her face to find her son safe, but she couldn’t feel relieved, not yet, “Eren go.” She stretched out her left arm and stroked his cheek. “Go.” 

“No.” Eren croaked, big glassy tears clinging to his thick lashes. “No, mom, I’m not leaving you here.” Eren got up and attempted to lift the chandelier to no avail. 

The doors must have been locked since the crowd had not moved from where it had been since the whole thing had begun.  The deformed giant’s hand swooped down and grabbed two people at the crowd and bit through their bodies cutting off their legs while spraying blood everywhere and killed them.

“Hannes help me!” He pleaded as he tried again to no avail, it didn’t even budge an inch, if only he were stronger. If only he wasn’t so fucking useless. 

“Kid…” Hannes began, his eyes wide in utter horror, as the monster dropped the two pairs of severed legs, seemingly uninterested in the dead bodies anymore. 

“Help me! Please!” Eren screamed, not even daring to take another look at the dead bodies. 

Adrenaline pumped through his body, and he shook from both exertion and horror. His mom wasn’t going to die here. He could still save her. 

“Eren go.” Carla’s eyes widened with tears as another hand plunged into the crowd, taking a screaming woman along with it. 

“No.” Eren sobbed. “No, mom.” 

Someone had managed to bust the doors open, and the crowd started moving at a rapid pace, getting out of the building hurriedly. 

“I can’t move my legs, I think they’re broken.” She said resolutely, “Take Eren and run.” 

“N-No mom, please.” Eren grabbed her left hand and pulled, maybe if he tried from this angle… 

“Why don’t you ever listen to what I tell you?!” She cried, “Take him, Hannes, please. My legs are broken, Eren, I can’t come with you. ” 

With that, Eren felt rough hands lift him and throw him over his back. “No! NO! STOP!” Eren struggled, but the former military officer held his ground and kept running. 

Hannes was not following the flow of the crowd, instead, he made his way to the staff area. 

Not before Eren saw that Carla had tears running down her cheeks when the giant finally turned its attention onto her. 

A screaming Eren, a cackling blond man, and a mother being lifted from the debris happened simultaneously seconds after Eren and Hannes distanced themselves from the scene. She kicked and struggled in the monster’s hold, as it opened its mouth and bit down on her once comforting shoulders. Blood sprayed from her severed body, a drop landing on Eren’s face as he watched with horrified teal eyes. 

His mother’s blood ran down the things teeth, and it was the last he saw of the thing before Hannes turned a corner and led them through the passage only to find the door locked . He kicked the metal door until the hinges broke and they were outside. 

When they turned to look at the building, the monster was gone. Like it had vanished into thin air. 

Both of them were worse for wear, as Eren was covered in cuts and glass and Hannes was about the same 

Hannes didn’t stop though, he ran with Eren on his back until he was blue in the face and long gone from the museum. Eren had long stopped struggling and instead became a dead weight, looking with unseeing eyes in the direction where he had just seen his mother eaten alive by something so horrifying it could only be hell personified. 

Hannes set Eren down on the sidewalk to catch his breath, “Look, kid, I know you-” before he could even finish a small bloody fist collided with his face. 

“WHY DIDN’T YOU SAVE HER?” Eren cried, having sobered from his shock. 

“Kid-” 

“Don’t ‘kid’ me! My mother she-she’s-” Eren landed a weak punch into Hannes’s abdomen, fresh tears running down his bloodied cheeks, creating streaks that slowly revealed clear tanned skin. 

“I know.” Hannes held his head down in shame. He knew they could’ve saved Carla, but he was frozen in fear, dread, and apprehension. The kid had taken charge as he was pleading for help that no one would give. 

None of those years as a soldier and a police officer could’ve taught him how to be brave in a situation between saving a life and imminent death. 

He let the small boy throw in his hits, knowing that he deserved it. Of course, it may have looked strange to passersby, but there was no one out during this time anyway.

“How could you take me away?” He screamed, his fists flying with every new-formed tear. “My mom-” 

After Eren had calmed down, for the most part, Hannes offered his hand , and, without a word, the little boy clung to his hand as if it were a lifeline.

Before Hannes took Eren home, he warned him that they couldn’t tell the authorities anything of what happened that night if they wanted to live, Eren only nodded numbly, not knowing what to think anymore.

Grief wracked his small body with every breath, nothing but pain registered. He couldn’t blink without seeing his mother’s horrified brown eyes filling with tears or the way her body crunched under giant teeth forming a smile. 

He was going to bed tonight without his mother tucking him in. He was going to have to tell Mikasa and dad what had happened tonight. He couldn’t lie to them. He couldn’t do this on his own. 

It was his fault. 

He was too weak. 

When Hannes dropped him off home, he explained to Eren’s father what had happened. The truth. Relieving the child from having to do so. Mikasa made sure that Eren had taken a shower and was bandaged up before wrapping him up in a heavy blanket on the couch. Her face flushed with a fever and tears sticking to her long eyelashes. Eren invited her into his bundle, waving off her worries by stating that he didn’t care if he got sick. 

The ocean green-eyed boy felt guilty for putting such a burden on her, she was sick and had just learned that she lost her mother. Again. 

Mikasa was adopted by the Yeagers five years ago after her parents died in an accident, the fact that the young girl was showing so much strength for losing another mom would’ve astounded him if he weren’t so caught up in reliving recent events. 

After Hannes left, Grisha also joined them on the couch, hugging the bundle that the two siblings shared with hiccuping sobs. Eren was the first one to start full-out sobbing and wailing, then Mikasa, then their father. And they stayed like that until the new family of three fell asleep in each other’s arms.

The next morning, the news reported a terrorist attack on the newly opened National Gallery of Art, the bombing killed everyone including staff and customers. No survivors were found in the vicinity. The bodies were still being identified. 

Grisha threw the remote at the wall, leaving a dent and scaring the children. He apologized softly and told them they were going to be staying with Armin and his grandfather for a while because he needed to go on a business trip for a new job that he got. 

Only then did Eren realize that both his parents’ last words to him were lies. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to regular_john and cowboymom2 for beta reading this chapter as well, you guys are amazing.


	4. Chapter 4: An Extended Truce

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to regular_john and cowboymom2 for beta reading, you guys are hella awesome!!!!!

# Chapter 4: An Extended Truce

Two weeks ago…

As much as Eren wanted to get back to a semblance of normal, he can’t seem to stop thinking about Gross’s confession from two weeks ago. After confirming the validity of the information with Armin afterward at his place, even though the vigilante was sure that the man was telling the truth, he had a small sliver of hope that he was a lying piece of shit and not just a piece of shit. 

They found a death certificate for one Faye Yeager at the age of 8, death from natural causes is what her autopsy report said. But the two men didn’t need to look far into Gross’s files and correspondences to find the contrary. 

Videos. 

Eren promptly threw up. 

Armin’s bottom lip wobbled as fat tears fell from his crystal blue eyes, making them look even glassier than they had been before. 

You would think that as a hacker that frequents the dark market and a vigilante that played god daily by taking life after life, that they would have seen worse. 

But nothing is worse than seeing _that_. Fucking nothing. 

They had seen snippets before, and rumors from Gross’s subordinates of his behavior. But it was only really enough to accuse him. Not enough to send to the police, but they had enough to put him out for life with child pornography and human trafficking charges that they let it be. They also made sure to leak the information to every and all news sites and publications with Eren’s connections to give the anonymous tips more validity. Therefore, the police can’t cover it up no matter how much money that piece of shit tries to throw at them. 

I should’ve killed him, Eren thought after his initial sorrow and pain for the children in the videos, I should’ve ripped out his intestines and, while his motionless body could do nothing, I’d make him watch as I strung him on a flagpole for the world to see. 

Armin would approve… Mikasa on the other hand wouldn’t. 

If Phoenix wasn’t there, that… thing wouldn’t have been given such generous mercy. 

Not to even mention the biological brother news, that was Pandora's box that neither of the men wanted to open. So they put it off for another day, focusing on the leads they can get from Grisha’s experiments. 

There were a plethora of documents recording Grisha’s activity. The government caught wind of what he was doing and hired him secretly to develop the weapon for them. But going through the documents would take much longer to make out a more detailed story of what happened. 

It would make sense on how quickly they turned on him, considering that if he had done what they asked, there would be no use for someone with his knowledge to go on a free man or living. 

This information was right under their noses! They just didn’t look deep enough in the right places and had written them off as dead ends. Three years ago, they gave up and put the mask away because they concluded that they couldn’t get anywhere with how they were going. And that maybe it was time to move on and live regular lives that didn’t involve stopping bank-heists and superhuman villains from taking over the world. 

Eren didn’t even want to look for Grisha, the man abandoned both him and Mikasa because he was so fucking determined to “right the wrongs I have committed” and “avenge your mother” that he forgot that he had a family that was still alive. One that needed him to be there for them. Carla died in a “terrorist” attack when Eren was 10. 

A fucking “terrorist” attack his ass. That’s not what happened no matter how the government or media paints it. 

Eren was there.

“You two promised me that you wouldn’t draw attention to yourselves?” Mikasa paced the length of Armin’s small dining room. 

Mikasa came over that night and gave them a tongue lashing because she saw the media frenzy on her social media while leaving the law firm where she works as a criminal defense attorney. Rightfully so? Eren would beg to differ. 

Her short inky hair was in disarray, contrary to her pressed gray pants suit and sensible black heels. Her eyes shined with determination and anger, her doll-like face was twisted with worry at the mess that her family has gotten themselves into.

“Well, technically those tips are anonymous… which means we didn’t draw any attention to Eren.” Armin laughed nervously. 

“People aren’t as stupid as you may think Armin! You don’t think some particularly nosey people won’t connect the dots, that a vigilante that hasn’t been seen in three years comes back and weeks after he starts, a well known military official gets bagged for possession of child pornography?” 

“And human trafficking.” Eren supplied. 

“Oh my god!” Mikasa sighed, rubbing her temple, similar to Levi when he was frustrated. 

Ew. No comparing his sister to his boyfriend, that’s just… no. 

“Do you know how many higher-ups you pissed off today? A lot. You’re painting a target on your back!” 

“That’s kinda the plan, it’ll draw out some information.” Armin leaned back in his wooden dining chair. 

“Not this again.” Mikasa groaned. “I thought you said you moved on?” Mikasa directed a pointed look at Eren. 

“I thought I did too ‘Kasa, but I can’t let this opportunity slip again.” Eren stared back, he wasn’t going to back down. Not on this. 

“What are you going to do when or _if_ you get to him? Kill him? Turn him into the police?” Mikasa put her hands on her hips, momentarily stopping her pacing. 

“Yes.” Eren replied, “I’ll kill him, with or without your help. So are you in or out?”

Mikasa’s eyebrow twitched, “Someone’s gotta protect you idiots, and it’s sure as hell not going to be anyone else but me.” 

“Mikasa…” Armin started. 

“Don’t start now Armin, as long as you promise me after all of this, if we’re all still alive, we’ll take a vacation.” Mikasa took a seat next to the two. 

“We’ve never been to the ocean before,” Armin conceded. 

Eren nods, “Then let’s make it our goal to see the ocean. It’s a deal.” 

Mikasa gave him a small quirk of her lips and leaned forward towards Armin’s computer, “Now tell me. What are the details?”

Present-day…

“Eren please, you have to do this for me!” Jean Kirstein, the man currently hanging off of Eren’s arm shook him out of his daydreams. 

The reporter was simply getting coffee when Jean decided to disrupt Eren’s peace. 

“My sister has higher standards than you, Horseface.” Eren shakes him off, hoping the man would drop it before he had to pull a punch in the middle of the workplace.

The reporter and Jean have a history. And not necessarily a good one. They hung out in the same groups in college and ended up getting into more fistfights than Eren would like to count. Mikasa and Armin were the only ones who were able to pull them apart from each other long enough to diffuse the fight. 

There was this one... incident that occurred involving copious amounts of alcohol, and 2 years worth of pent up sexual tension. 

They never talked about it afterward, and Eren never wants to in the future. 

“Yeah, I know she’s out of my league, she’s beautiful, smart, funny, kind-” _That_ makes discussing this particular subject with Jean, especially with his sister involved. 

“Yeah, yeah, I meant she doesn’t date people who don’t respect their mothers.” Eren successfully manages to dislodge the editor from his arm. 

“That was one time, Yeager!” 

“Shut up, and let me remind you that she’s interested in someone else.” 

“Why did you have to break my heart like that?”

“Because she could beat your ass without breaking a sweat. And I can’t call you horse face if your ugly mug is rearranged.” 

“You’d hate that wouldn’t you?” Jean sneers, he has gotten better over the years, but times like these make Eren wish he wasn’t a responsible adult with dignity.

“Yes.” Eren grabs his cup of coffee as soon as it's done brewing, “Go back to work before Ymir finds you slacking off.” 

Jean scoffs and takes over the coffee machine, a beat of uncomfortable silence follows, “So… do you have any interesting articles you're working on?” 

“Well, the Chief approved my article on corruption in the police force, which is good news. But other than that, Nah.” 

“Hm.” Jean crosses his arms and leans on the cheap, sticky counter nobody has decided to replace. “That’s surprising, I thought you would be half-way across the city with another one of your half-baked suicidal plans.” 

It was Eren’s turn to scoff, “I’m not suicidal.”

“Could’ve fooled me.” 

“Yeah yeah, maybe you should date Mikasa, you sound like her.” 

“I’ll take that as a compliment.” 

“It wasn't meant to be.” With that, the teal-eyed brunet makes the arduous trek back to his desk. 

Bitterness is a common emotion he usually saved for the editor. They started on the same page, fighting. Now Jean has grown out of his violent phase, and Eren has only grown into it. 

He did have to admit, working in a stable and professional environment was good for him. When he was just starting, it provided a lot of structure in his life, compared to his college days, when he was writing a blog about the Phoenix, and obsessing over deadlines to projects he started too late. Honestly, he was so surprised that he was able to create a career after a blog that he started on a whim when he was a Sophomore in college.

Eren wouldn’t consider himself exceptional or special in anything, he isn’t a bonafide genius like Armin who is not only driven but also still has the capability to be kind and caring despite all of the things that he has gone through. Or strong and powerful like Mikasa, who saw her brother at his lowest and took care of him and swallowed her grief while Eren drowned in it. Or calm and collected like Levi, who can think his way out of any mess he came across, he’s a survivor. Eren’s just this kid who got lucky with a psychotic father who decided to give him superhuman powers before disappearing off the face of the earth. 

Not that he would wish this power on anybody else, but it felt like wasted potential. They could've done so much more good than Eren can. 

But no, Grisha just had to make yet another mistake, trusting something he cared for in Eren’s hands. 

So when Eren’s blog took off, accounting for various superheroes and villains who teamed up with the infamous Phoenix. When he started getting sponsors and brand deals for doing something that he loved and excelled at, it was amazing. And it allowed him tremendous opportunities. Plus, it gave him the experience and renown to bolster his confidence long enough to submit his resume to Shiganshina News. Hell, he had been putting off submitting his resume to the city’s most credible and well-known news provider for months, before he decided to bite the bullet and do it. And biting a bullet was much less nerve-wracking. 

At that time, he decided to put his powers to use, although it was never his intention to become a full-fledged vigilante, just to stop a couple of robberies or a bombing here and there, find out more information about the people who killed his mother, that’s it. He had been doing it for about a year. Then this rumor spread that he used to be a part of some supervillain gang, mafia, or secret government agency (depending on the person you asked), and went rogue to serve the people and his heart. A cute story, probably Armin’s doing, hence the name. 

When he got the job, he decided to put the mask away. It was a lost cause, and he, Armin, and Mikasa were moving on with their lives. It felt wrong to disrupt that to chase after the past. 

Meeting Levi only hardened that resolve. 

That was, until two months ago, the Laughing Giant’s goons attacked Levi in his own office. And all bets were off. Then Eren and Armin looked into the group and found lead after lead after lead that pointed to a connection to Carla’s death. 

Eren knows that the Laughing Giant had to have some part in what happened to his mom, or at least knows what that _thing_ was that killed her. All of their goons always wore the golden star emblem somewhere on their right arms, which was all Armin needed to find a connection and run with it. 

He would never be able to repay Armin for helping him so much in Eren’s quest for revenge, he knows he’s putting a heavy burden on such frail shoulders. Eren shouldn’t be, he shouldn’t be letting Armin get involved with this bullshit, because he also knows that he would’ve died a hundred times over if it weren’t for the blond. But Eren’s selfish, he wants to survive until he sees his mother’s killer put to justice, and until then, Armin’s stuck with him. Not that Armin would go even if Eren told him to. 

Eren types away on his work assigned laptop, doing preliminary research on the next article he was setting his sights on. 

What should they have for dinner tonight? Maybe Eren’ll cook something for the metallic-eyed man, he did have a load of executive meetings going on today, maybe the teal eyed man could get the other to wind down with some comforting foods. And the apartment was in desperate need of some warmth and comfort. 

Eren takes a sip of his coffee, wincing as the liquid scalds his tongue as his mouth immediately starts to steam. Superhealing has its perks, but he still felt every bit of pain that went along with the initial wound part. 

He glances at Sasha and Connie goofing off at Connie’s desk, Sasha gives the man’s arm a particularly hard slap as a response to a horrible joke. 

Connie Springer, with sharp gray eyes and a blond buzzcut, works in the sports section, reviewing and commenting on various sports. He and Eren got on well, but he was mostly horrified at the topics the teal-eyed reporter chooses to cover. On the other hand, Eren never really saw the difference between their two genres because what is crime if not a deadly sport? Or maybe Eren has been a vigilante for long enough that the lines have blurred. 

Sasha Blouse, a brunette with copious amounts of freckles and dark eyes, works as a restaurant critic and she’s in love with her job. Mostly because she can eat everything on the menu of a restaurant and charge it on the company. She’s kind of a genius in that department. 

Eren has known these two since college, the fact that they too have also pursued jobs here and have gotten them was a crazy coincidence to the ocean green-eyed reporter. 

The editor in chief strides past Eren’s desk, “Oh, Mr. Smith, are you free Friday night at 8?” Eren caught him. 

“Yes?” The tall blond asked cautiously. 

Eren and his boss rarely ever spoke on personal terms in the office, but he is one of Levi’s best friends, so Eren has caught him on more than one occasion hanging out in Levi’s apartment or at the social events Levi dreads. 

“Good, because you have a date with a certain blue-eyed genius then, Levi’ll text you the details,” Eren winks, he knows that Erwin has had a thing for Armin for quite some time. Armin doesn’t, for someone who has been known to criticize Eren’s romantic choices, he’s really dense in the love department. He was too busy being a stressed-out medical student that he couldn’t see what was right in front of him. 

High cheekbones turn a shade darker, “Oh-oh, um,” Erwin clears his throat, “Thank you for notifying me Eren, I will be sure to be there.” 

Eren nods and smirks as the six-foot-two man stiffly walks away. 

Now, a new problem to tackle.

How was he going to get Armin to go willingly? 

Levi wants to bang his head on his freshly polished desk, but he refrains, it would ruin his hard work on the desk, and meticulously slicked-back hair that he had spent a good 30 minutes perfecting this morning. Despite Eren’s teasing on the matter. Just because the brunet usually puts no care in his extremely soft, fluffy, messy locks, doesn’t mean Levi has to. 

He’s finally done with all of the meetings for the day. They went over stocks, percentages, estimations, problems and complaints, future clients, all that good boring ass shit. Nothing too complicated, but still boring to death. Now he understands why Kenny saddled him with the job.

That nut job was probably off on his island, having the time of his life right now. The man made a name for himself, Levi’ll give him that. 

He still has some questions that were burning in the back of his mind for the man, but he concluded a long time ago that he may never see his uncle again. 

God, he was thinking about _Kenny_ , he needed to punch somebody or a glass of bourbon on the rocks. Preferably the latter. 

It was only mid-afternoon. 

He refuses to drink on the job, but god was it tempting now. 

A high pitched alarm knocked him out of his momentary lapse of insanity, he glanced at his phone, looks like there’s a robbery at Karanese Bank. Just what the doctor ordered. 

Quickly shutting off his alarm, he calls over to Petra, “I’m taking a late lunch break, make sure to tell anyone who calls that I’m busy.” 

“Yes, sir.” She replies, then continues to tap away at her computer, keeping her eyes deliberately on the screen. 

With that, Levi goes into his “personal” restroom and suits up in the spare upgraded gear Hanji had made a couple of weeks ago. Yes, he has three identical suits, one in his ‘lair’, one in his home, and one in his office. Since he can’t just drive all the way to his underground bunker when he wanted to without having someone already be killed on the scene.

Would it heighten the chance of someone figuring him out? Fuck no, Levi isn’t dumb enough to leave his shit somewhere without a lock. 

Plus Hanji overdoes everything and they couldn’t help themselves to make more than what was needed. But, for once, Levi is grateful for their tenacity and drive. 

After getting suited up, he opens the restroom’s relatively large window and jumps out at full force knowing that the wires are going to catch his momentum. 

He lets his thin wires grapple onto skyscrapers as he expertly avoids security cameras and civilians through swift and succinct movements. Gliding through the air is a rush that can’t be ignored, the highs and lows that make Levi’s stomach perform backflips or the wind rushing through his now ruined hair. 

It was the closest thing to having wings. 

He made good time getting to the bank in about two minutes. The cops welcome him with open arms, telling him that they know he’s going to get the job done and that they’ll back him up when he’s in need. The normal hero worship. Not Levi’s favorite part of the job, but it made his life easier so he couldn’t complain. 

“They have 20 hostages, none of them have been killed as far as we know. They’re wearing clown masks and all are armed.” One police officer gives him the low down. 

As the man goes on, Levi is already coming up with a strategy to get everyone out safely and quickly. His top priority wasn’t catching these dumbasses, it was saving civilians from dying an untimely death at the hands of a trigger happy thief with too many bullets and not enough brains. 

The plan was to swing up top the roof, cut the windows with his duel blades _neatly_ and quietly. Then jump the robbers and knock them out. If he couldn’t do that and they outnumbered him, which wouldn’t be likely considering that they’d need at least forty men and a bazooka to outnumber him. And even then, he liked those odds, then he’d block them off with his wires while everyone else got outside. 

At least that would have happened if a certain rogue bug swathed in black leather didn’t sneak in before the hero could. 

Knowing that Rogue was going to jump right into things and probably get one of the hostages hurt, Levi springs into action. Not giving the police a warning before doing so as he propels himself towards the roof of the building, and stabbing his blades into the glass window as his wires are grappled onto the roof. 

The glass is not as cleanly cut as he’d like because of his urgent sloppiness. 

“Tch.”

He jumps through the hole just as Rogue engages in combat with the first robber, flinging sharp iridescent darts from his forearm in a graceful wave, puncturing the clown’s arms as he crumples to the ground and drops his weapon. 

As Rogue is leaning down to clasp the man in a sharp, crystalized cuff, another clown behind him is about to pull the trigger when Phoenix swoops down and knocks the man out in one kick to the head.

He ties the man up in his own jacket, having no ropes or handcuffs made one more savvy with the things that he did have. Maybe he should have asked for handcuffs out there. 

He lands on the ground right as his wires are rolled back up into his ODM gear. “I thought our truce was over?” Rogue smirks, electric blue eyes sparkling with mirth. 

“I did too,” Phoenix replies, as he surveys the room for any more armed thieves. All there was were trembling people and a little girl muffling her sobbing with a pink long sleeve. 

“The rest are in the vault.” Rogue states, “I’ll go after them, you get these guys out.” 

“No.” Phoenix argues, “You take the hostages out, and I’ll deal with those fuckers. Humanely.” 

Rogue clenches his jaw at that last part, “Is that how you really see me?”

“Am I supposed to see you as anything less?”

Rogue steps closer, into Phoenix's personal space, the tension between them coming off in waves to the point where even the hostages take notice in their fearful stupors. “Fine, we’ll do it your way.” Phoenix grits out. 

A nod is all he gets from the hero as they launch into their respective jobs. 

Levi soundlessly runs into the vault, finding the rest of the robbers stuffing their duffle bags full of stacks of bills. 

The CEO understands the appeal of having money, especially when you don’t have it. 

“Hands up, and I’ll go easy on you.” Phoenix transitions into a fighting stance, giving the three thieves a chance to come peacefully so he doesn’t have to report that they resisted arrest from the officers outside. As much as he found these men to be lowlifes from the bottom of the barrel, he was also in their position for a good portion of his life.

That allowed him a bit of mercy to these guys who were only trying to survive with a world that ran on money like it was its blood. 

One of the three turns around ready to fight he’s more on the burlier side, while another, who has a much smaller build, turns to look at the hero and gets flustered enough to trip over a stack of bills as his duffle bag spills out, and the last robber, a lightly muscled man with a lanky stature, turns around stoically with an iron grip on his bag. 

“We ain’t going without the money.” The burly one proclaims a little too proudly. 

Levi inwardly sighs, so much for taking it easy. 

“What?” The burly clown sets down his bag roughly, “You got nothing to say pipsqueak?” He charges head-on, like a bull in a pen.

The hero easily sidesteps him and delivers a robust kick to the gut, as the man crumples to the ground, he knocks him in the back of the head with the hilt of his sword for good measure. And he’s out like a light. 

Why he didn’t use the fucking machine gun strapped to his back, Levi will never know. Instead, he turns his attention to the two who were staring at him, contemplating their chances against the sword-wielding hero. 

They petite guy whips out his rifle. _Finally_ a person with half a brain, of course, if he had an entire brain he wouldn’t be in this situation, now would he?

A spray of bullets pierce the air, Levi rushes forward, dodging and cutting the bullets in mid-air. 

The bullets keep on coming until Phoenix manages to knock the gun out of the clown’s hands and roundhouse kicks him in the shoulder, knocking him to the ground as the hero delivers a final blow to the head to knock the other man out. 

He could easily crush his head against the wall and call it a day, on the island he would have, but he’s not there anymore so there was no need for such drastic measures. 

The third man drops his gun and holds his hands up in surrender, Phoenix just nods and moves to tie up his buddies in, letting his guard down momentarily. 

_Bang_ . _Bang. Bang._ Fuck. 

Pain doesn’t register, Levi turns around to see Rogue crouched down in front of him, and the last man left wielding a gun whilst pressing the trigger repeatedly with no avail.

The vigilante was knelt in pain, clutching his abdomen in an attempt to put pressure on the sure-fire gunshot wound that had probably cut through the superhuman like butter. 

Levi recovers from the initial shock of one of his quote-unquote “enemies” saving his life, there was no time to think about that right now. 

The room was too small to use his gear to move. It looks like he has to do this the old-fashioned way. 

With the clown still fruitlessly fidgeting with his weapon, Levi takes the initiative to land a kick straight to the jaw. His ODM gear jostles against his thighs with the movement

Adrenaline is rushing through his veins, his heart is beating a mile a minute. He needs to get that insufferable vigilante to an ambulance. Stat.

The clown gets up, moving his surprisingly unbroken jaw, and charges after the hero. 

Levi dodges expertly, and maneuvers away from his opponent’s lightning-fast attacks, a punch lands square on his eye socket along with another in his stomach, causing Levi to almost reel back. 

Instead, he slashes at his opponent’s legs and abdomen, careful enough not to aim for any arteries.

When the clown stumbles into the wall from the barrage of attacks, the hero aims his grapplers and nails the clown’s arms to the wall. The sickening crack of bones momentarily fills the room along with a scream in pain. 

Using the gear’s pull towards the wall, Phoenix jumps and slams the man’s head against his polished leather boot with a final kick. 

The grapplers tear their way out of the man’s arms and into their rightful place and the thief drops to the ground, now dead weight and passed out. 

He’s going to have a nasty concussion when he wakes up.

Levi turns around with the fullest intent of getting Rogue medical attention. 

There was only a pool of red liquid and bloody shoe prints leading out of the bank. 

His nose scrunched at the scent of it. 

The hero was surprised, to say the least, he didn’t know monsters could bleed. 

The police came rushing in, they had nothing to do except take out the trash. They thanked Phoenix for his service and went on with their annoying protocols and regulations. 

Sometimes it was hard for Levi to believe that this moment would be someone’s most traumatic experience in their life. Imagine how dull life would be if a bank robbery was the thing that kept you awake at night. Levi envies dullness more than he thought he would. 

Eren was his only semblance of normal and domesticity that he’s had all of his life. And it was surprising how comfortably Levi had fallen into a new routine with Eren. It’s so terrifying yet so fulfilling at the same time to have someone he loves at home to come back to after losing home and love more times then he could count. 

The reporter made his life whole again, and the hero did not doubt that if he lost Eren it would shatter him into a million pieces. 

Phoenix heads out of the crime scene, ready to get back to his office and clean the blood from his equipment and preferably polish them as well. For now, he settles for shaking his blades of excess liquid, not caring how many civilians will see the morbid display. 

“Good job in there Mr. Phoenix, make sure to tell that Rogue fella thank you for me, he slipped away right before you.” An older gentleman pats Phoenix on the back warmly, shaking him out of his thoughts. 

“No problem sir, I’m just doing my job. And I’ll pass on the message for you.” He gives a small wave and grapples onto the nearest skyscraper. 

A regular lunch break doesn’t take this long. Plus when he gets back he needs to fix his hair, answer emails, and prepare for future meetings and approve of new weapon designs from his engineers and scientists. 

Not to mention the fact that the vigilante and the hero actually made a good team today, The decision came so naturally too. No, that was simply because the other man is strangely good at getting things done that’s all.

Damn his rules, he needs that glass of bourbon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, when Eren said he would take a bullet for Levi he meant it.  
> Who's ready for the reveal? Not me. Psh, We need that ANGST before any of that happens lol  
> I promise there'll be more Levi and Eren next chapter, but for now, let's just appreciate tired medical student Armin and boss ass bitch Mikasa. 
> 
> Thanks for reading to the end of the chapter here's a Winky face ;)


	5. Chapter 5: Suffocation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here's some fluff and sexual tension

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to regular_john and cowboymom2 for beta reading you guys are awesomesauce!

#  Chapter 5: Suffocation

Eren cups Levi’s angular face with his smooth warm hands, “What happened to your face?” His eyebrows were scrunched with concentration as his stunningly green eyes scan his lover’s face for any damage. 

Levi didn’t even notice that his right eye was being swelled shut the whole of the day, having got a brutal punch to the eye in the bank robbery he aided in diffusing. 

“Hanji blew something up again,” Levi states simply, surrendering himself to the ocean green-eyed man’s scrutinization, enjoying Eren’s gentle touch more than he would like to admit. 

A sharp sting pricks his heart at how easily the lie came to him, is this what their relationship has come to? Easy lies? It knocks the breath out of his lungs as he watches the hole he has dug for himself get incrementally bigger. 

“Are you hurt anywhere else?” Green eyes bored into Levi’s own, as though he could see everything the other man was thinking. His hands pressed more firmly into Levi’s cheekbones, turning his head to the side to get a better look. 

Levi hesitates, wanting nothing more than to look away and melt into the other’s determined gaze, “I got hit in the stomach, with whatever the fuck they were working on this time.”

“When did this happen? It looks like someone socked you in the face. Do you need an ice pack? I’m getting an ice pack.” Eren leaves Levi at the doorway and rushes to their neatly organized kitchen. The older man’s eye had turned a nasty shade of purple showing that it had been at least a couple of hours since he’s been wounded. 

Levi is already seated at the couch when Eren finds what he’s looking for, he tries to sink into the couch’s plush cushions but ends up sitting uncharacteristically stiffly, none of the ease of sitting in his home present. This happens sometimes after fighting, electricity still buzzing beneath his skin and hands itching for his swords. 

He looks to Eren as a distraction, his boyfriend is just as he was when he left for work this morning. Buzzing with untapped energy, messy brown locks tied into a half ponytail, and jumping around from task to task because he never seems to be able to do just one thing at a time. 

No wonder the older man fell in love with Eren so effortlessly. 

Eren ambles towards Levi, pressing a bag of frozen carrots to the hero’s face, chewing his plump bottom lip nervously. “Sorry, it’s the only thing we had.”

“It’s not that bad, Eren.” 

“Like hell it is. Your eye is the size of a goddamn grapefruit.” 

Levi takes the bag of carrots from Eren, their fingers brush, then Levi sets the frozen bag down, “You’re being dramatic.” 

“I don’t wanna hear that from the man who flips out when a shelf isn’t properly dusted.” Eren’s hand drifts towards Levi’s cheek under the affronting black eye, caressing his pale skin delicately, like the hero would break if he pressed too hard. 

“Tch.” Gentle treatment is not what he needs right now. 

Almost sensing Levi’s thoughts, Eren presses down sharply on the area and Levi winces, “You need to stop going to Hanji when they’re experimenting, I’m surprised Moblit didn’t keep you out.” 

“I’m their boss.” 

“So? Isn’t it their job to help keep the company afloat? That includes making sure the ‘boss’ doesn’t die on the job.” 

“It’s everyone’s job to keep the company afloat, brat.” Levi scoffs, not noticing his shoulders relaxing. 

Eren presses his face against Levi’s neck causing his hair to tickle Levi’s chin, and sighs tiredly, “Why do you have to be so difficult?” 

Levi raises his uninjured eyebrow, “Because you love me for it.” 

“You’re lucky I do,” He whispers into the shell of Levi’s ear, his hot breath scorching sensitive skin. 

Levi’s mouth twitches into a smirk. 

Laying in their luxurious bed, naked, with the shorter raven-haired man secured in his arms provides Eren with enough comfort to expel what happened today from his mind. Even if someone were to try to attack Levi at this moment, Eren would be there to protect him. 

Time had gotten away from them since it was 3 am, but who could blame Eren for being late to work the next morning because his boyfriend was too hot for his own good? Oh right. His boss. 

Ironically, the older man has a much lower body temperature compared to the younger, this results in Levi being the one to leech off of Eren’s warmth no matter what time of year it so happens to be. Not that Eren minds, he found it endearing and he had more than enough warmth to share. He doesn’t know if that’s a superpower thing or a Yeager thing. 

Getting shot is not a pleasant experience, but seeing Phoenix, a man he had once loved (and still does in some ways) with a gun aimed to his head whilst being caught unawares was by far worse than any gunshot wound. 

It reminded him of why he couldn’t love the hero romantically anymore and why their relationship would have never worked out in the long run even if Eren had gotten what he wanted and figured out his identity, because of instances like this that could’ve gotten him killed. Eren has the luck of possessing super healing, Phoenix is a full-fledged human. He’s a man with metal boxes strapped to his thighs and swords, one small mistake, one millisecond of distraction and he’s already five feet under. Eren wouldn’t be able to deal with another loss and keep the small increments of sanity he had left, not after everything that has happened. 

He managed to get to Armin’s place without the cops seeing him sneak off. The blond had been an angel and surgically removed two bullets from Eren’s torso later, luckily the guy had bad aim and the third bullet went through his shoulder as cleanly as a bullet could. 

That was a lucky shot for him since it didn’t take long to heal. Organ reparation did take around a couple of days to heal, so Eren just bandaged it, and went back to work. Most pain killers don’t work on him for some reason, Armin’s looking into it but for now, he has to deal with a shot of something with a high alcohol percentage to numb the pain until Armin makes a breakthrough. 

He’s rather grateful towards the blond, although a bit worried. When they were in college and he had to help stitch Eren’s back up from a dagger slice, his hands were steady but he threw up right after. Now he can remove two bullets from the vigilante without even blinking an eye. 

It was as though he’s becoming numb to the sights they face every day, which made Eren worried. He never wanted to put Armin in harm’s way or hurt him, but by allowing his oldest friend to be by his side that is exactly what he’s doing. 

He always manages to hurt the people he’s trying to protect.

Levi shifts, turning his face into Eren’s chest, pressing his cool muscled body into Eren’s tender abdomen, skin grows back easily enough, it was the organs he had to worry about. He suppresses a wince since the older’s senses every small movement Eren makes, even in his sleep. 

Eren tightens his hold on the raven at the thought. He never intends to hurt Levi if he could help it, but it was inevitable for the CEO to find out one day. And when he does, it’ll be game over for them. Levi doesn’t take kindly to betrayal and lies, especially from the people he loves. 

He melts in the man’s pale skin as the other seeps warmth from his body, by nuzzling his face into the raven’s silk hair. His hands map the familiar curve of muscles and scars on Levi’s back, finding comfort in the simplicity of his presence. 

Levi is home.

A multi-billionaire former playboy philanthropist and weapons dealer is his one sliver of normal. And that says a lot about his life in general. 

It’s a rare occurrence for Levi to be the first one to fall asleep after sex. He must’ve had a more tiring day than he let on. 

The usual lines of stress and worry on his face were smoothed out, leaving a small content smile in its place. He looks much younger this way, years of experience and pain washed away in blissful slumber coupled with the feeling of prominent scars that proliferated Levi’s back in long slashes against Eren’s large hands. 

It makes Eren’s breath stutter and his heart jump. 

Peaceful moments like these hold weight. Because it means that the bruised CEO trusts him. 

He shouldn’t. 

Eren glides over Levi’s back softly as he’s lulled to sleep by the sound of steady breathing and the feeling of having Levi’s arms snake around his waist, clinging to him in his sleep. 

How come the city’s hero doesn’t get to relax in his own lair? Instead, he has to listen to a mad scientist rattle on about the Laughing Giant and his gang of low-level thugs and terrorists, and how if Moblit’s eyes hit the light just right they looked just like caramel. 

His and Eren’s only day off together in weeks, and this is what he chooses to do with his time. 

Luckily, Eren hadn’t taken offense to Levi opting to spend the day with Hanji and Erwin instead of spending the entirety of his free time snuggling on the couch and watching whatever action flick Eren chose. Not even a hint of bitterness or suspicion in his boyfriend’s tone when he kissed him goodbye this morning. Maybe it’s his prior experience with unhealthily obsessed “partners”, but being in a healthy and fulfilling long-term relationship is still a bit of a jarring experience. 

Erwin hasn’t been as active in the “Phoenix-squad” in recent months since he decided to take on a load of new responsibilities as Editor-in-Chief because some of his main editors decided to quit on him, stating that he has too high of standards for the articles he approves. So Hanji’s giving him an in detail briefing of what happened. 

Levi had suggested firing the lot of them so that they couldn’t quit, but that received a disappointed shake of the head from the blond man. 

The raven didn’t see the problem, it’s how Levi ran his business. If he caught someone not working up to his standards he’d send them back to training or fire them. Levi doesn’t need half-assed mechanics, scientists, or weapons designers when there are plenty of people out there willing to do the work that Levi requires of them that would kill to have a high-paying job. 

Erwin must’ve been feeling Levi’s peevishness with the situation as he states, “So you’re telling me that the Laughing Giant has some other agenda, better than taking down every other influential figure, competing secret societies, and governments that date centuries back to topple the current social order of the world?” To get them back on track. 

“Yes.” 

Erwin nods in response, he’s sitting in one of their office chairs, with his straight posture and the satisfaction of looking too tall in that abhorred chair. “And what may that be?” 

“The possibilities are endless, world domination being a top priority. Other than that, I don’t know, they seem to be preparing something huge, we just need to figure out what that is before they do it.” 

World domination his ass, let’s see them try to take over the city first. Levi hums spinning on his own, wishing nothing but death upon the Laughing Giant and whoever is allied with him, since they were taking away precious hours he could be spending with his boyfriend, working, or training. His eye is still throbbing like a motherfucker. 

“Here’s the interesting part though.” Hanji buzzes, “I’ve run into a couple of rumor mills on the dark web. And they always seem to mention an alias who seems to be his right-hand man.” 

Levi stops spinning, “This is new. When did you find that bullshit?” 

“Just now, actually,” Hanji states matter of factly. 

“What is the alias?” Erwin asks, not unkindly. Levi could already feel the scheme he was concocting in that beautiful brain of his. 

“Someone who goes by the name ‘Tank’. Apparently, he’s the one that’s in charge of all those recent attacks. That’s why they’ve been running all over the city doing God knows what.” 

Levi crosses his legs, and scoffs, “Makes sense, the laughing bastard doesn’t seem man enough to do shit himself.” 

Erwin shakes his head in disapproval, “There’s only so much one man can do, it’s a smart move.” 

“You consider using desperate people as pawns in a long-winded game of chess as a smart move?” Levi raises an eyebrow, all he sees is a coward too afraid to face all of what he’s done. 

“Yes.” Erwin stares straight into the CEO’s metallic eyes, “It’s nothing that we haven’t done before.” 

A tense silence passes them, even Hanji is quiet for once. 

“Tch,” Levi looks away, “With that type of thinking we’re no better than them.” 

“Are we not?” The blond marvels, “We pay off, kill, use, lie, and hurt the people that we claim to protect to reach an end goal that ultimately leaves all of us dead for the sake of justice and righteousness when in the end it’s all fruitless because there will always be something to fight against. May it be the social order of the world or criminals trying to end the world. All we’re doing is creating monsters. What’s the difference between us and them?” 

“We draw the line at killing innocents to make a political statement.” The metallic-eyed man answers the question and goes back to spinning. “And are you here to lecture me on the ethics of a job you volunteered for.” 

Hanji cackles at that, “He’s gotta point there, Erwin. We did weasel our way into this mess.” 

Erwin shrugs, “I’m not complaining, I enjoy this type of work.” 

“Wow, I had no idea you got off on making people run around like ants for you.” Levi rolls his eyes, Erwin is one of his most trusted confidants but he’s not so trustworthy to everyone. 

“It’s a hobby I dabble in.” Erwin smiles easily. 

Levi’s mouth twitches into a smirk, “Good.” 

“Either way,” Hanji chirps, “This Tank guy seems to have connections with the cops, the chat members couldn’t give names. But I’m looking into it. Seems like a good place to start. It would explain why some of the more influential followers Phoenix arrests always manage to escape somehow.” 

“Like Phantom.” Erwin leans forward in his seat, resting his elbows on his knees and interlocking his fingers. 

Levi had arrested Phantom around five times as of this moment. He always manages to escape, no matter what organization they send him off with. 

Even the Military Police couldn’t keep a hold of him for long, with their new ‘Suicide Squad’ initiative taking place. As much as Levi detests those guys, their reputation precedes them. They’re deadly and want to get their hands on any superhuman they can find no matter which side they play on. Putting a bomb in their prisoners’ heads seems to be a good incentive for obedience to everyone except the terrorist. 

“Don’t remind me.” Hanji groans, shoving their face into their hands, “Do you know how many hours I spent working on those power binding handcuffs? And we don’t even know his true identity!” 

“Not to mention his highjacking of all of the news sites resulted in an influx in public sympathies, especially in the lower districts.” Erwin nods, having his own issues with the terrorist. He’s not too fond of people jeopardizing his lively-hood to whine on television. 

“Or that time that bastard threw a woman out of that skyscraper to get away from me.” Levi stops halts his spinning once again, “Fucking coward.” 

“It worked.” Erwin supplies and Levi responds with a glare that would rival Kenny’s. 

“What a nuisance,” Hanji sighs. 

“If you had some help on the front lines, we wouldn’t be having this issue.” Erwin points out. 

He’s been an advocate for teaming up with several heroes and certain glowing blue eyes vigilantes. Levi has taken a couple of heroes up on their offers to team up since most of them are from different dimensions and planets it didn’t seem like much of a commitment. 

“Yeah, yeah, we’ll open that discussion again if the world is ending.” 

“The world is ending somewhere right now, so I’d say it’s the perfect time to team up with someone. Specifically, a person with superhuman powers who so happens to be a local? Preferably.”

Levi opens his mouth to argue when an alert flashes on Hanji’s screen, and they roll over to check “Speak of the devils. Rogue has engaged in a melee with Phantom in broad daylight in the middle of the highway, I’m getting the live feed from a helicopter from Shiganshina News.” 

Erwin cracks a smirk at that since it just meant more news articles for him to come up with and first-hand accounts from the pilot and cameraman of what they saw live. 

Levi inwardly sighs, “I’ll get suited up. No way in hell is that kid going to defeat that bastard alone.” He immediately regrets the words that just came out of his mouth because he can feel Erwin ticking off another object he needs for his master plan. 

Hanji bounces in their seat, “If you can, can you get me one of those crystals? I wanna conduct a couple of experiments on them. I wonder what kind of material they’re made out of since they materialize out of his body…” And with that, the mad scientist is off in their little world. 

“I trust that you’ll take my input into consideration?” Erwin states, more than asks. 

Levi rolls his silvery eyes, knowing that he’s damn well going to try to get that inhuman vigilante on his side. Maybe this was their window of opportunity. 

By the suspicious glint in Erwin’s eyes, Levi suspects as much. 

Erwin even takes another computer and starts doing whatever the hell he does when he’s on a roll. Probably preliminary research, then individualized research, then 12 different other types of researches in a specific order. It’s a process he explained once, but Levi promptly forgot and favored more relevant information. 

Hanji gave him the coordinates of the battle, and he was off. 

  
  


Eren’s impulsiveness is one of his defining character traits. He’s virtually invincible, his Achilles heel being the nape of his neck. Which just fuels his already reckless and “suicidal” nature. He learned his weakness the hard way when he was fifteen and managed to get sliced there in a fight. Surprisingly enough everything healed quickly except his nape, which healed “regularly”. That cut is the only scar he has on his entire body, despite losing both his arms and legs on multiple occasions. 

He’s gotten paranoid over the years, so when he and Armin were making his suit, he made sure to put in place an extra layer of armor on the nape of his neck. He doesn’t let anyone touch his nape, not even Levi. It’s an unreasonable mental block on his part, but Levi has been unsurprisingly accommodating to him. He wears turtlenecks or hoodies as often as he can, and he’s even grown his hair out for the express purpose of giving himself some type of semblance of protection.

The public doesn’t know he had super-healing because if they did, his enemies would not hesitate to exploit it, plus he didn’t want to risk giving the government another incentive to dissect him or use him as a lab rat in their latest nuclear deterrent. 

So when he saw an infamous terrorist and his group of lackeys attacking an innocuous office building on the news, he suited up as soon as possible, forgoing contacting Armin for back-up.

He had dispatched the utter filth Phantom brought with him as easily as he could breathe, which caused the terrorist to flee from the scene. 

Fucking coward. 

The blood splattered on his suit was drying as he engages with Phantom in the middle of the city, everything was a blur after that. 

Maybe that’s because the terrorist has been shooting bolts of electricity into Eren, causing everything to start healing at a rapid pace. His heart should’ve stopped about 5 times now. 

Huh, a new record. Mikasa’s going to kill him when she sees this on TV if Armin doesn’t beat her to it. 

He lets his power flow, electricity crackling under his skin as he let his powers become unbound from the usual mental shackles he keeps them under. His eyes are one of the tell-tale signs of his powers since they turn a glowing blue when he uses them. According to Armin, if he’s losing control his eyes flash gold, he usually blacks out when he gets to that point though. 

Now he’s in the middle of the highway, underneath a bridge, and there’s a helicopter above him. Damn it, his goal was to get him away from civilians, not to get him near more. 

This was going just great.

The police have managed to section off the area where the two superhumans were fighting, but Rogue doubts that the terrorist is going to stay in this circle for a while. 

If he survived this battle, he was going to have to find a way to get past them without getting arrested. Shit. 

Phantom is sporting his usual get-up, that being a humanoid form covered in a bright glowing blue suit of electricity. He’s mostly solid and can bleed. That’s the only good news right now. 

He zeroes in on the glowing entity zipping around, obviously trying to disorientate the vigilante. His body was already steaming from his previous attacks, good thing he can blame the steaming on the electrocution, but that wasn’t going to work for long. 

He readies into a fighting stance and waits for him to charge. 

Phantom throws another energy bolt at him, and Eren rolls away at the last minute. 

He could hear the insistent whirling of the chopper above him, and police chattering into their radios. 

Eren cracks a smirk, “Is that all you got?” 

Phantom responds with a solid electrified punch to the jaw, the hiss of burning skin permeates Eren’s senses. The taste of iron floods his mouth, and his jaw throbs for a couple of seconds. He fends off his body’s instinctive healing properties and focuses on dodging the next shot. 

Eren whips out another dagger and brashly slashes for the terrorist’s torso, pushing him backward as Eren advances. 

“You’re skilled.” Phantom’s gravely voice comments, “For a common serial killer.” 

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Eren lands a solid stab into his chest, creating a chink in his electrical armor. Crimson gushes out of the area when he pulls out the knife, sizzling as it seeps onto the glowing armor. 

“Go ahead.” Phantom decides to push back at full force by shooting bolts of electricity and strategic punches at a rapid pace. Now it was Eren’s turn to be cornered. 

“Did you really think that you could defeat me so ill-prepared?” Phantom says as he knocks the vigilante to the ground, Eren can hear the smile in his distorted voice even if his face was just a ball of energy. 

“No.” Yes. “But he can.” 

Phantom cocks his ridiculous glowing head at that, and a lightning-quick kick hits him from behind. 

Phoenix in all of his glory stands there, unperturbed by the situation. Compared to Eren’s burnt face and bleeding lip, he looks like a god. 

Phantom is quick to recover and whips out another bolt of energy towards Phoenix’s direction. Eren is already up and by Phoenix’s side. 

“We’re even now,” Phoenix states brusquely, as Phantom regroups and the cloaked hero stalks him like a predator. 

Rogue follows suit and readies for another round, his muscles aching and hands steadying. “For what?” His confusion was evident, even in his modulated voice. 

“Nevermind.” 

In a split second, the battle was on. Rogue and Phoenix tag team the bastard. 

Eren flings crystals at the terrorist and they embed deeply in electrified armor when Phoenix is distracting him with his inhumanly precise attacks. 

Phantom shouts in pain and his legs give out from under him. Eren inwardly congratulates himself on aiming for his tendons. 

The city’s hero has a sword to their throat within the moment. 

They keep up the electrified armor, but Eren doesn’t pay it any mind when he crystalizes his wrists together in makeshift handcuffs. His skin immediately heals afterward. 

Eren is already developing an escape plan when Phoenix nods to the police to take the terrorist in.

A dagger in hand, there was no way he was getting out of this without cutting his own path. Just as he’s about to go through with his half-baked plan Phoenix’s voice cuts in, “Let the rat off on this one, he’s with me.” 

A police officer looks at both of them skeptically but nods all the same when he eyes the struggling terrorist in the hero’s grasp. 

Phantom transfers to police custody and Phoenix and Eren are walking away from the crime scene. Calmly and publicly. Not a feeling he could ever get used to. 

“You’re coming with me,” Phoenix bluntly says. 

Rogue nearly stumbles back, “Like hell I am.” 

Phoenix’s eyes look him up and down, probably analyzing his potential of escaping “I could always tell those cops over there to come and arrest you right now.” 

Complacency is not in Eren’s DNA, he isn’t going to just roll over and be demanded around by anyone. Except maybe Levi, but that’s it. 

“Yeah right, like they can keep me long.” Rogue crosses his arms, “It’s not like you can carry me there.” 

Phoenix pauses for a moment, “That’s the plan actually.” With one swift movement, the hero is carrying a struggling superhuman vigilante bridal style as he grapples from building to building mindlessly like his wires are an extension to his body. 

Eren stops struggling and holds onto the hero with an iron grip as they swing throughout the city, his stubbornness doesn’t exceed jumping out of a man’s arms while he’s five-hundred feet in the air. Even though he could probably survive, with a fractured spinal cord and maybe a cracked skull, Eren didn’t want to risk killing the hero. 

He doesn’t deserve to die. 

So the leather-clad vigilante placates himself to waiting for their landing to make a run for it. Since he could be taking him to some off the books government facility for experimentation, or that “program” for ex-cons that involve bombs being implanted in the inmates’ heads. He can’t remember the name of the project, but he knows he got a good laugh out of it. 

The exhilarating feeling of being on a rickety rollercoaster that could give out any moment pervades his senses, distracting Eren from fully appreciating the view. Seeing the city from an entirely new perspective made the experience even more jarring. Although Eren didn’t fear to die in this particular situation, there were worse things to fear. 

He refrains from getting closer to the hero, which was an impossible task, considering the fact that they were ricocheting off of buildings like humanoid pinballs. 

When they land in a barren alleyway, Eren’s knees are weak and his heart is beating a mile a minute. 

Is this some sort of pick up point? 

When Phoenix sets him down, Eren’s kegs spring into action, not caring about how flimsy they feel, only to be tackled to the ground by the cloaked hero. 

He knew, plausibly, that his chances of escaping a man who can swing from building to building are unreasonable. But it’s worth a shot. 

Snarling, Eren somehow manages to shift in his position underneath his opponent, hook his legs around his waist, and flip them over. Resulting in the vigilante being the one to straddle the hero’s torso. 

“What are you doing? Why did you take me here?” Eren grabs the hero’s wayward fists and grounds them over his head, which takes considerable leaning over. His and Phoenix’s faces were mere inches apart. The metal boxes also doing wonders in restricting his movement. “You better have a good explanation for this.” 

“I have a fucking proposition for you,” Phoenix growls, and Eren studiously focuses on his eyes. Barely repressing the shiver that runs down his spine as the other’s breath ghosts his cheek, it feels as though an old wound was being forcibly reopened. 

First loves are a bitch. 

“Sorry, I’m taken.” 

“Not that type of proposition, dumbass.” Phoenix punctuates that statement with more struggling, “Let me go and I’ll explain.” 

“How do I know I can trust you?” 

Phoenix narrows his eyes into slits, as though he’s scanning for any signs of hesitation in his gaze. “You don’t.” 

Eren allows himself to think for a moment if he wanted him imprisoned he would’ve turned him over to the police on the highway. A part of himself wants to keep the upper hand, but that isn’t going to last forever. 

Without warning, he releases his hold and slips off of the hero’s body.

When they’re both standing up, Phoenix dusts off his clothes hastily like the dirt is an abomination to his existence. 

“Speak.” Eren demands, crossing his arms in a nearly petulant manner. 

The hero scoffs, readjusting his hood, “The Laughing Giant.” He states simply. 

“What about him?” Glowing blue eyes narrow into slits. 

“We’re both pains in the ass to the bastard.” 

“And?” 

“We should team up.”

“What?!” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone wants to check out my:  
> Tumblr: losticarus510  
> Instagram: losticarus510  
> They're pretty barebones accounts for now, but I might draw some fanart who knows lol 
> 
> Congrats you've made it to the end of the chapter! Here have Levi face (ㆆ_ㆆ)  
> All the comments and kudos are greatly appreciated!


	6. Chapter 6: A Shift

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taking a break from your regular scheduled heroic idiots for some nerdy idiots. 
> 
> Thank you regular_john for beta reading this chapter!

#  Chapter 6: A Shift

Armin Arlert lives a relatively ordinary life, he spends the majority of his time listening to lectures and taking notes or studying various disease or cancer symptoms. He’s relatively younger than most of his classmates considering all of the grades he skipped and classes he took ahead of time.

The rest of his time, he spends working as a white-hat hacker for various companies to pay the bills. Thankfully, they’re willing to shell out enough money for Armin to survive. He usually opted to take the lower-paying jobs to not draw attention to himself in any way shape or form. 

He kept his head down and made it an effort to keep eyes off of him for the time being. And for good reason too, since his impulsive best friend seems to have a death wish. 

And everything was going perfectly fine until Erwin Smith came into the picture. 

Broad shoulders, muscular build, high cheekbones, easily over six foot tall, blond, always impeccably dressed, and dark blue eyes that could melt Armin into a puddle of goo. 

Not good. 

Anyone who could make the petit med student’s BPM go up significantly just by looking at him was never good news. 

Too bad that Eren Yeager didn’t get the memo. 

Last Week… 

“Please Armin!” Eren begged when he had come over for another government mainframe busting session, “You never have fun. All you do is stay home and study.” Armin knew this was a cheap ploy to derail the blond from talking about his supposed “big brother” and other family mysteries kept hidden by various people. 

Armin pushed up his glasses since he had forgone his usual contacts, “I also go to college, idiot.” 

Eren groaned dramatically and heavily leaned on Armin until the blond laid on his side on his dingy couch with Eren’s considerably muscular body pressing into his frail one. “You know, Erwin has been smitten with you since he met you last year at the banquet.” 

Armin outwardly cringed at the thought of that event, it had been a rough night on both of the brothers. Since Eren usually brought Armin or Mikasa along to his boyfriend’s stuffy charity balls because formal events usually set Eren into a panic, something he couldn’t tell his loving billionaire of a boyfriend about. And Armin had been working on 4 hours of sleep for the entirety of two weeks, and a break up with a boyfriend he can’t even remember the name of. “Eren, I’m not an idiot. Sadly, it doesn’t take me a year to read the signs as you do.”   
Eren pressed his side even harder into Armin, nearly suffocating one of his only family members in the couch cushions, plus Armin’s laptop was digging into his lap at this awkward angle. “Hey, I was nursing a broken heart, thank you very much.” He could hear the teal-eyed man’s indignant pout. 

How someone who had killed over eighty people could pull off such a childlike expression was beyond the blond. 

Armin rolled his eyes, “Yeah, yeah, yeah, get off of me before I call Mikasa.”   
“You wouldn’t dare.” 

“MIKA-”

“Okay, okay, you get your way. Brat.” Eren untangled himself from the blond with a chuckle. 

Before Armin could reply, Mikasa came running in, brandishing a wooden spoon covered in tomato sauce like a weapon. “What’s going on?” She asked urgently, already in her fighting stance. 

“Nothing, just Eren being Eren.” Armin shrugged, smiling at the ridiculous image in front of him. 

Mikasa ready to beat someone with a dirty wooden spoon and Eren looking frightened by it. 

The Asian woman sighed in resignation or disappointment, the crystal blue-eyed genius couldn’t tell, “Don’t call for me if you’re not dying.” And she left to finish her cooking. 

It was her responsibility for dinner tonight since Eren cooked last time. Plus she wanted to try a new recipe her “friend” from the police department taught her. 

“Yes ma’am,” Armin saluted, and Eren just chuckled. 

After a beat, Eren opened his mouth again, “How about we make a deal?”   
“What kind?” Armin challenged, closing his laptop. He hadn’t gotten to anything important so far so there wasn’t any data he could lose. 

“I let you put one of my crystals under one of those fancy microscopes, and you go out with Erwin on Friday night at 8 to a nice restaurant.” 

Now,  _ this  _ intrigued him, Eren had never let Armin examine one of his crystals because he didn’t want anyone finding a crystal in Armin’s possession. And since Armin couldn’t afford a high-end microscope, his only option was to go to his college’s lab. Which was a risk in it of itself, since med students seemed to love hiding out in the lab. 

Eren is as stubborn as he is paranoid, he’d do anything not to implicate Mikasa or Armin in his line of work. Which was both a blessing and a curse, considering that he continuously stifles Armin’s scientific pursuits to keep him safe. Self-sacrificing family members seem to be a thing for Armin. First his grandfather, now Eren and Mikasa. 

It was only one night and a couple of hours out with a handsome man, how bad could it be?   
“Deal.” Armin stuck out his hand to shake and Eren took it, gripping too tightly, damn super strength. When he let go, he shook his slender hand in hopes of feeling his nerve endings again. 

  
  


Present-day… 

Now the crystal-eyed man was sitting at a table alone, on a Friday night, at one of Shiganshina’s finest Italian restaurants with no editor-in-chief in sight. 

He has been waiting for nearly an hour. 

This was getting embarrassing, with all the lovey-dovey couples giving him pitying looks as he anxiously snacks on the free bread on the table and water. The waitress even said that everything was going to be on Mr. Smith’s tab, which was something Armin didn’t know someone could do normally. 

Bounding foot-steps reverberates, in the otherwise hush restaurant, catch his attention, as he spots  _ Erwin Smith  _ making a beeline for his table. 

The first thing Armin notices is the fact that the other man is huffing for air, and the med student makes an attempt to jump out of his seat to aid him in some way, but Erwin holds a hand up to halt his movement. 

He takes a seat across from Armin, and he can feel the eyes of his fellow patrons bear into him with their scrutinizing gazes. 

It makes Armin want to huddle up in a corner and die a quick death. 

“My apologies, Mr. Arlert,” Erwin catches his breath, “I was hard-pressed at work, it was never my intention to keep you waiting for so long.” 

Armin shakes his head, noticing that the man’s usually neatly gelled hair had been rid of its confinements and has fallen limply in his face. He couldn’t help but notice how youthful it made the other man look. His disheveled appearance makes Armin’s annoyance dissipate in a matter of seconds. 

He’s wearing a simple white button-up that hugs the curve of his biceps without looking ill-fitted and black dress pants. Since Armin knows that he’s usually not so unkempt, it made this novel situation a bit more endearing. Especially with the flush emanating from his ungodly cheekbones. 

A small smile graces Armin’s lips, “No worries, and you can call me Armin if you want.” 

“Armin...” He mutters, as though testing his name upon his lips; the blond would be lying if he said he didn’t enjoy hearing his name being said with such a velvety voice. 

Was it his imagination, or was Erwin’s flush getting deeper? Erwin seems to snap out of whatever reverie he was in, “What would you like to order?” The editor-in-chief asks quickly, snapping his menu open. 

The crystal-eyed med student shrugs, and does the same, “I haven’t looked.” 

The two men sit there in relatively awkward silence for however many minutes, it feels like hours have passed by the time their waitress comes to take their order. 

Armin tries to get the cheapest meal on the menu, already feeling relatively uncomfortable at the prospect of someone else paying for him.

He hasn’t been on a date in two years, one could say that he’s a bit rusty in the field. Sadly, people aren’t as simple as their anatomy, every movement and word has its own double meaning. Socializing is an art that leaned upon being able to read in between the lines. 

Plus, his mind keeps on wondering between Grisha Yeager’s research with off the books government experiments, and Erwin’s biceps. What the hell is wrong with him?   
“So…” Erwin starts, leaning closer to Armin to the point where the younger can see the lighter flecks of blue in his deep-set eyes, “What do you do in your free time?” 

_ Infiltrate various mainframes and make sure my brother doesn’t die a horrendously dramatic death.  _

“I read, play chess, work. How about you?” Armin answers instead, taking a sip of his water. 

“I don’t get much free time, but when I do I tend to conduct some preliminary research on my next article.” A minuscule wince passes his angular face, but he covers it with a smirk, “But I’d much rather talk about you.” 

“There’s not much to tell, I’m pretty boring,” The med student fights off a flush at the man’s undivided attention. Seriously, why is he acting like he’s still in high school? 

“Oh,” Erwin nearly purrs in his velvety baritone, and Armin is pretty sure all of his blood is rushing to his face at this point, “I’m sure that’s not true.” The businessman folds his arms in front of him, taking a more professional stance. But his proximity made it clear that it was anything but. 

It was a way to be personal but set a bit of a boundary between them, which Armin appreciates more than he thought he would. 

To thinly veil his flustered state, Armin rolls his eyes, “Yeah, keep on telling yourself that.” 

“Alright, how about I ask you a series of questions, you’re a medical student right?” Erwin straightens his back, with that smirk still adorning his face. 

Armin raises an eyebrow, “Is that the journalist in you coming out?” 

“Maybe. Is that a yes or no?” 

“Sure, let’s do this.” Armin shrugs, anything to make this date less awkward. 

“Would you ever hide information about a preterminal or terminal diagnosis from a patient in order to bolster their spirits?” Erwin’s expression shifts to a more serious one and Armin is a bit taken aback. But it was a relatively tame dilemma he’s listened to his professors talk about in class. 

He contemplates his answer for a brief second, “The answer should simply be no since as a physician it’s not my place to withhold information about my patient’s own body. But I can see how doctors can try to soften the truth about their patient’s diagnosis to keep them alive. In some cases, patients can’t take the thought of their life cutting to mere months or years. So the way you break the news would have to be taken on a case by case basis by considering their mental state. But for me, it’s a resounding no.” 

Erwin hums at his answer, “I’m a bit shocked, you seem like the type of kid to not want to ruffle anyone’s feathers, even if it was the truth.” 

Armin chuckles at that, maybe when he was in high school he might’ve said something entirely different, since he was deathly afraid of conflict or disappointing the people around him even if they were strangers, “I’m long passed ruffling feathers.” 

Erwin nods, “Okay another one, if you had to choose between an older convict and a child to give an organ to, who would it be?” 

“Are you getting those questions from medical dramas?”He knows which one Eren would pick. 

“Just this one.” 

“It wouldn’t be my decision, it’d the DHHS who makes the call, and although I would prefer for the child to have it, it goes on a case by case basis. And as a person in the profession, I have to regard my patients with objectivity in terms of their backgrounds. If I have to patch up a school shooter, or a bank robber, or a murderer, I will. Everyone deserves an equal chance to live even if they didn’t think that of others.” Could he believe the things he’s saying when he actively hunts down killers and corrupt individuals? If one of those men or women walked into his hospital, Armin would force himself to treat them, only to aid in their deaths later on. 

Their waitress came over to their table and brought their food, the two men utter polite thank yous and she’s off asking another table if they’d prefer some warm towelettes. 

Erwin nods, “I’d like to have the same strict morality as you Armin,”  _ Ha,  _ “But I have to admit, I’m more unforgiving towards murderers and rapists. I guess that’s why people like you become doctors, you think everyone deserves to live despite everything they’ve done.” 

Armin nearly chokes on his pasta, “I can’t blame you, not everyone can look at people with a fair amount of objectivity.” 

Such a dichotomy, if he didn’t believe that everyone deserves a chance to live despite being murderers, then he’d be conceding that he and his family didn’t deserve to live with everything they’ve done. Does it make it right that they’re getting rid of filth in the world when in the end everyone’s life has intrinsically the same value? Where did he get off deciding who dies and who doesn’t? 

It was so easy to look at it from a physician’s perspective, but a vigilante’s one made everything blurrier. 

“I am first and foremost a reporter, therefore I should have some amount of objectivity.” Erwin points out. 

“But then that would make your work dreadfully boring.” 

The older man huffs a laugh at that, “You have a point.” 

  
  


Erwin Smith has always had an unfulfilling personal life, despite Levi giving him shit for being the most emotionally healthy of their trio, and Erwin does the same with Levi being a guarded dickwad. But in all honesty, being dubbed the most functional out of the trio is not necessarily a compliment considering that Hanji and Levi set the bar so low, it was five feet under. 

He had dedicated his entire life towards his profession, his hunger for the truth can never be satiated no matter how many secrets he can wriggle out of from anyone. In layman's terms, he’s obsessed with everything he doesn’t have. 

Not necessarily tangible objects but the knowledge various people hold, the way they act in dire situations, their prior experiences, everything. He hoards these tidbits like a dragon and his cave of gold. 

Usually, someone piques his interest for a mere couple of months before he gets bored with them and breaks it off. In the end, everyone's the same, they weep, they beg for another chance, and Erwin comforts them with a placating smile and restates his cliche breakup speech that it’s become habitual. 

When Armin Arlert, a small blond who was surprisingly taller than Levi, caught his attention at a dreadfully boring charity banquet last year, he thought he was going to be another one of his fads that he’d be done within three months. 

Except he barely saw the boy anywhere except with Eren Yeager at formal events or dropping by the office to have lunch with him, since their daily lives don’t necessarily intermingle. 

The amusing dichotomy of Armin and Eren was evident. Armin had folded in on himself despite having silvery blond hair and wide crystal blue eyes that were only complimented by the romantic lighting of the room and tried to virtually disappear at the banquet and wore a suit slightly too big for him. Whereas Eren stood straight, with a finely tailored suit (compliments from a particular billionaire), with an impassive smile and eyes only on one man the entire night no matter how many patrons tried to get his attention. 

His thoughts always went back to the shy man, the shine of his eyes when someone said a particularly amusing joke or the evident annoyance he had for some of his friend’s exuberant behavior. It came to the point where Erwin had done something that would have him calling the editor-in-chief a “fucking stalker” for the rest of his life, like the billionaire had any room to speak. He asked Hanji to get as much information on Armin as they could. 

Hanji had vibrated with excitement at the notion since Levi had explicitly told Hanji not to go looking into Eren’s past (which they did anyway) so that his boyfriend could tell him if/ when he was ready. A romantic notion on his part, but Erwin wasn’t about to waste an opportunity to quench his thirst for knowledge about this stunning man. 

Armin had been living with his grandfather for the entirety of his childhood when his parents died when he was just an infant in a hot-air balloon accident. Then he lived out a normal childhood when he was around eleven years old his grandfather adopted Mikasa Ackerman and Eren Yeager legally, after their father, Grisha Yeager, had gone missing after the death of Carla Yeager. Officially, he was presumed dead, but with the recent information Levi has found out, it seems unlikely. After that, he went to school, and Eren seemed to have gotten into dozens upon dozens of fights in defense of his new brother if the multiple disciplinary reports on the boy was an indication. And he went to more schools, skipped grades, and worked ahead. And, around three years ago, Armin’s grandfather had died of heart complications. 

Armin Arlert’s life was simply tied in a pretty little bow. Erwin expected something… more. And he felt as though there had to be. There was something forlorn about the way he looks at the people around him, although he could chalk it up to him losing the entirety of his biological family. But that felt wrong to assume. 

Armin was more than what meets the eye. 

So that’s how he got here, after annoying Levi to death about it, hitting it off with one of the most beautiful people he’s had the pleasure of meeting. 

The beginning of the date was a bit of an awkward mess, but everything worked out in his favor and Armin had slowly warmed up to him. 

They had been talking for hours on end before their waitress told them that they were closing up soon. 

Not wanting to inconvenience everyone, “Do you want to take this somewhere else?” Armin suggests and Erwin had to suppress jumping in joy. 

“Of course,” Erwin smiles softly instead, he pays the bill with a slightly anxious look from the other man. He notes down the reaction in his head. “There’s a park where we can walk to.” 

“Sounds good to me.” 

They exchange lighthearted childhood stories, and it makes Erwin’s heart leap. The smell of the crisp night air is immensely comforting as the chill air breezes across his face. 

They stop at an empty bench in the middle of the park and sit a respectable distance away from each other, despite Erwin’s need to inch closer to the blond man. The two have donned coats for the somewhat frigid air; Erwin was wearing a black overcoat, and Armin a cream blouson. 

Armin sighs, and looks up at the night sky, “Too bad there’s so much light pollution, it’s a good night to look out at the stars.” 

Erwin hums, “The city lights have their own form of beauty, but it would be a good change in scenery.” 

Armin huffs a laugh, “When my grandfather and I went fishing in the countryside, the stars were so… I don’t know, there? I guess. It was like I could see them so clearly, but I knew that they were lightyears away.” 

“It’s an uncanny feeling,” Erwin concedes, “It’s like looking into the past, the stars we see now are probably long dead or just starting to die.” 

Armin nudges his shoulder playfully, “That’s depressing.” 

“It’s the circle of life,” Erwin nudges back, he has the urge to take Armin’s smaller hand in his, since it was just resting on the bench in between them. 

“Are stars even alive?” 

“Are _we_ even alive?”  
Armin groans, “Don’t push me down that rabbit hole, because I’ll drag you down with me.” 

“I wouldn’t mind that,” Armin’s face turns to his, and Erwin can’t tell if the flush is from the chilly air or his date. Not that it matters since he enjoys the view either way. 

The editor-in-chief sets his hand over Armin’s, succumbing to something unspoken. “Really?” Armin leans closer, his breath ghosting over Erwin’s face, and he suppresses a shutter, not wanting to pop the bubble they created. 

“Really.” He says lowly, as though saying it too loud would scare the other man away. In which Erwin has no doubt. 

Armin seals their lips in a clumsily boyish way, Erwin’s eyes widen and he hesitates for a minuscule beat before kissing back. His lips felt slightly chapped and delightfully cool, he tastes like the mints he snagged from the front counter, Erwin welcomes the sensation with a fervor. Before either of them can take it any further, Armin detaches himself from his lips and sets his free hand on the older’s chest. 

They’re both smiling and flushed now, “Do you mind that?” Armin says breathlessly, his crystal eyes are sparkling with the same amusement that had caught his attention all those months ago. 

Erwin’s mind is effectively turned into mush, “I don’t know, maybe if you tried again I could form a more decisive conclusion.” 

Later that night… 

Eren lounges on the couch, scrolling through his phone with a shit-eating grin on his face. 

Levi’s eyes are trained on his boyfriend, instead of watching whatever bullshit was on the news tonight. His flannel-clad legs were resting on his lap, as Levi massages his calves from another day of traveling around the city trying to dig for some type of lead or another. Honestly, the billionaire couldn’t keep count at this point. 

“What are you reading?” Levi asks, probably not wanting to know the answer, because every time he does it’s always ‘oh I found out so and so were embezzling money from the funds dedicated to the homeless’. 

“Family stuff,” Eren replies giddily, as he frantically types back. 

Raising an apprehensive eyebrow, Levi inquires, “What type?” 

“I thought you’d already know.” 

“Nope.” 

“Let’s just say, Erwin might be getting a second date.” 

“What?” Levi presses down hard on his boyfriend’s leg. 

Eren winces, “Hey, don’t snap off my leg, it doesn’t grow back.” 

Levi rolls his eyes, “Drama queen,” 

“Drama  _ king _ , you can be the drama queen.” 

“Like hell.” 

“Armin said that he was a perfect gentleman. You should be proud.” Eren chuckles. 

“You’re not the one who has to hear Erwin gush about his ‘true love’ for hours on end this weekend .”

“Then it’s payback for all those years loading your relationship issues on him.” Eren scoots over until he’s practically in Levi’s lap and rests his head on his broad shoulder and Levi’s arms immediately wrap around his waist. The reporter’s warm body soothes Levi’s cool one and makes him practically melt into the brunet’s touch. 

“Tch.” 

“Oh,” Eren nuzzles his faces into Levi’s neck, he can feel his hair tickling his chin, “So you admit that you’ve talked about me.”

“I don’t admit shit.” 

“But you don’t deny it?” 

Levi doesn’t answer and just buries his face into Eren’s soft, freshly washed hair. He smells like the billionaire’s pomegranate shampoo, which by no means makes his heart stutter in his chest, nor does it mean that a small content smile adorns his face as he doesn’t even try to suppress it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Armin: I sleep with a knife underneath my pillow  
> Mikasa: Fool, I sleep with a sword  
> Eren: Ha, amateurs  
> Armin: Oh really? What do you sleep with?  
> Eren: Levi.  
> Yeah, I had to add some Eren and Levi fluff, it was too irresistible. Also, I didn't realize I wrote Eren as such a cheeky bastard until I wrote him from another character's Pov lol.  
> Also a little background, Levi is obligated to go to a bunch of formal events to bolster his public image and to make connections. Eren being the determined, self-destructive man he is, forces himself to go to these events despite the fact that sometimes they can trigger him. So he brings Armin and/or Mikasa when he can, or he just sticks to Levi's side the whole night. Levi doesn't like it but trying to stop Eren Yeager from doing something he wants to do is impossible, he still tries though. So they're both stubborn and it ends up in a stand-off. 
> 
> If anyone wants to check out my:  
> Tumblr: losticarus510  
> Instagram: losticarus510  
> Congrats you've made it to the end of the chapter! Here have a Mikasa face 💪(◡̀_◡́҂)  
> All the comments and kudos are greatly appreciated!


	7. Chapter 7: It's Complicated

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “How do I know I can trust you?” 
> 
> Phoenix narrows his eyes into slits, as though he’s scanning for any signs of hesitation in his gaze. “You don’t.” 
> 
> Eren allows himself to think for a moment if he wanted him imprisoned he would’ve turned him over to the police on the highway. A part of himself wants to keep the upper hand, but that isn’t going to last forever. 
> 
> Without warning, he releases his hold and slips off of the hero’s body.
> 
> When they’re both standing up, Phoenix dusts off his clothes hastily like the dirt is an abomination to his existence. 
> 
> “Speak.” Eren demands, crossing his arms in a nearly petulant manner. 
> 
> The hero scoffs, readjusting his hood, “The Laughing Giant.” He states simply. 
> 
> “What about him?” Glowing blue eyes narrow into slits. 
> 
> “We’re both pains in the ass to the bastard.” 
> 
> “And?” 
> 
> “We should team up.”
> 
> “What?!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you regular_john for phenomenally beta reading my bs.

#  Chapter 7: It’s Complicated

“I’ll even throw in a one time deal, that being me not turning you into the feds.” The hero offers curtly, as though he didn’t just say what Eren thought he said. 

Eren stares at his ex like a deer in headlights, this was the last thing he expected since Phoenix has been intermittently hunting the vigilante down when he wasn’t saving the world or the city. “Shut your mouth before you catch flies.” Phoenix sneers, still inspecting himself for any speck of dirt.

Did he really have a thing for men obsessed with cleanliness? 

Recovering himself as quickly as he could, Eren manages to gulp down the lump in his throat, “What’s the catch?”   
“The fact that I have to work with you.” 

Eren rolled his glowing eyes, “If we’re doing this, I have a few terms.” 

“I don’t think you’re in the position to negotiate,” Phoenix steps closer, to the point where their noses are almost touching if the hero wasn’t so short. Still, the tone in his modulated voice makes the blood rush to the tips of Eren’s ears.

This isn’t going to end well for him. 

  
  


When Levi got back to his “lair” he rams his fist into the concrete wall. Hanji giggles uncontrollably and Erwin raises an eyebrow. 

That vigilante always manages to get under his skin one way or another. When their faces were mere inches apart, all he could think of was how mesmerizing those glowing eyes were, and the voice in the back of his head telling him that the weight of the vigilante on top of him was a pleasant one. _No one_ has ever elicited such a response from him except one man and he’d like to keep it that way. 

Just subconsciously desiring someone else so viscerally makes Levi’s skin crawl and his heart filled with guilt. It was one thing to lie to Eren every day, but to also feel an inkling of _something_ for someone other than him is worse. 

Maybe he’s being dramatic, maybe it’s nothing. But Levi can’t shake the feeling that it’s not. 

“Do you need help with that?” Hanji gestures towards his bruised knuckles. 

“No,” Levi leans against the abused wall, “It’s not broken. I’m fine.” 

“Do I need an explanation? You did great out there, you even struck a pretty good deal.” Erwin smirks, content with today’s progress. 

“I just felt like punching something. That’s it.” 

Hanji pouts, “Next time deal in one of those crystals, I wanna smash one of those suckers.” 

Erwin looks at the scientist incredulously, “I highly doubt you can. I’ve seen where those things have cut through interdimensional portals without so much of a scratch on them after.” 

Hanji scoffs dismissively, “I saw that security footage too, and nothing can escape my destructive powers. Plus, I find a way to break them, and you find a way to subdue him when this is all over. It’s a win-win.” 

“We might still have use of him after this…” Erwin mutters to himself, scheming ahead, customary of his character. Much to Levi’s annoyance. Didn’t he have a new boyfriend to swoon over? 

“I’m going to go then,” Levi makes a move to maneuver out of his gear. 

“Not so fast mister,” Hanji pulls at his sleeve, “We have shit to plan.” 

  
  


The hero and vigilante struck up a deal, one that was mainly beneficial to Phoenix and kept Eren out of the hands of the government and their nefarious side projects. 

Unsurprisingly, when Eren enters his apartment Levi is nowhere to be seen. He had gotten a text from Levi earlier that he had to stop by the office to take care of some business with a particularly overzealous customer. Even on his day off, the older man has been working himself to the brink of collapse recently, and it doesn’t sit well with Eren. 

The last few weeks of living with Levi have been incredible. Embarrassingly enough, Eren has become enamored with Levi’s daily routines. The way Levi woke up at unearthly hours to go for a run and do abhorrent amounts of paperwork but always manages to crawl back into bed with Eren before their “official” alarm sounds, the way he religiously cleans every bit of the apartment to the point where Eren’s starting to become hyper-aware of every speck of dust in his vicinity, or Levi’s insanely long morning grooming ritual that Eren has been teasing him for. But he does find it endearing how Levi will always adjust his silky locks and finely tailored business suit around a couple of hundred times before being satisfied, despite looking like he has just walked straight out of a Vogue cover. The only real downside is that it feels as though they continuously see less and less of each other every day since they don’t have to consciously make time for the other in their hectic schedules, but they were still getting into the swing of things and Eren’s sure there’s going to be a plethora of issues that they’ll have to work out in time. 

Eren resolves himself to ordering in, making sure to adhere to Levi’s somewhat strict diet. He knows that the man will eat practically anything Eren gives him, but he rarely enjoys the crap Eren shovels down. 

His metabolism has been exponentially increasing over the last couple of years, for example, in college, he was able to get drunk off his ass on a couple of cases of beer. Now, that doesn’t even phase him. Which makes formal events with Levi exponentially harder, since he doesn’t have something to take the edge off. 

After waiting a couple of minutes, he thanks the delivery man with a generous tip and sets the plastic bag on the dining table before putting Levi’s grilled chicken in the fridge in case he was going to be out later than expected. 

Exhaustion seeps into his bones making his limbs feel thousands of tons, as he ruminates over what happened today. 

Stabbing into his meal with a plastic fork, frustrated tears build up in ocean-green eyes, how the hell did he trap himself in such an idiotic situation? Why did he let that terrorist lure him out into an open area? If he just thought for _one moment_ in that entire affair, he wouldn’t have been caught by the city’s “strength”. 

He had agreed to give Phoenix all of the information he had on the Laughing Giant and his goons. And that he’d be teaming up with him and his nefarious “crew”, which Eren can only assume was his brains of the operation. 

He knows that this is the most efficient way of finding out who killed his mother and why. Over the past few years, Eren has felt this ticking time bomb just waiting to implode on his life since his mom died, and he had tried to stop it by giving up on vigilantism for a couple of years. But that only seemed to make that mental clock tick faster than before and with him being on Phoenix’s team, for now, he was truly on borrowed time. 

Since he does not doubt that when this whole thing is over, or when the hero deems that he doesn’t need him anymore, he’ll turn him over to the government without hesitation. 

Would that matter if Eren does get what he wants, which is to stop the people who killed his mother from ever doing whatever they did again? 

Armin would blame himself, Levi would never want to see him again, and Mikasa… God. What would Mikasa do? 

Before Eren can think himself into another hole, he hears the door open and he quickly wipes away his unshed tears with his sleeve. He didn’t need Levi to be privy to _another_ one of his break downs. 

Levi strides over to Eren and leans down to kiss the top of his head, his body tense and his eyes steely, “I know I said that I would spend the rest of the day with you-” Levi mumbles into Eren’s hair. 

“It’s okay, shit happens.” Eren sighs, and melts into Levi’s touch. His worries from before are pushed into the back of his mind, “There’s grilled chicken in the fridge for you,” 

Levi hums in affirmation, parting from his embrace to go to the kitchen. 

Eren follows him, knowing that Levi would be brewing a pot of tea as soon as he got into the kitchen. 

“What did your client want?” Eren asks, taking a clay tea set out of the cupboard, “Oolong?” 

Levi nods, “Just some contract technicalities we overlooked.” 

Eren raises an eyebrow, Levi’s so detail orientated that the mere prospect of the man overlooking something as serious as a contract is unheard of. “Are you catching a cold? You rarely make mistakes.” 

Levi scoffs as Eren spoons oolong into the infuser, and he’s already on heating the water in the kettle, knowing intuitively how long to wait, “I’m still a human being.” 

“I’d beg to differ.” 

“I do like it when you beg.” 

Eren rolls his eyes and knocks his shoulder with Levi’s, “Kinky bastard.” 

Levi knocks back, a soft smile making its way on his lips, “Brat.” 

“No, but seriously,” Eren turns to face his boyfriend, “are you okay?” He presses a tanned hand to the metallic-eyed man’s temple. Still cool to the touch. 

“Yes,” Levi lowers his head and sighs somewhat frustratedly, tenderly moving his hand from his forehead, “I’m fine.” 

“Okay,” The ocean green-eyed man regards his lover with skepticism as he yields, “I’m just worried about you.” 

“What are you? My mother?” Levi’s face assumes a blank mask as he jeers with an unprecedented amount of venom. 

Eren is struck with a sense of deja vu, _so this is how Mikasa feels_ , “I don’t have to be family to worry about you, Levi. It’s okay to need me, Hanji, or Erwin.” He speaks calmly, as though he’s trying to tame a wild animal, and presses a hand into Levi’s firm bicep. 

He doesn’t want to fight tonight, he knows Levi’s first instinct when he’s feeling _anything_ is to push everyone away. He doesn’t even know what set his mood off, he knows Levi like the back of his hand, but even snapping at his boyfriend was incredibly uncharacteristic. The couple doesn’t fight often, but when they do it tends to become… explosive. But they resolve things with a little time to themselves to think of a compromise. 

“I don’t need _you_ for shit.” Levi doesn’t even look him in the eye, and Eren jerks back like he’s been hit. 

_Oh yeah, tell yourself that when you’re fucking your fist instead of me,_ the vigilante wants to sneer back, but bites on the inside of his cheek. Hard. 

He reminds himself that Levi’s only trying to look for a fight and that he doesn’t actually mean it. But it doesn’t stop the sting of those words as they prickle at his insecurities. The CEO always goes for the jugular in the most simple, concise ways. 

Maybe it was time to take a time out before either of them say something they’ll regret. He shuts the lid to the tea infuser, and places it into the teapot, “I’m going out to the balcony, come talk to me when you’ve cooled down.” 

Levi gives a dismissive wave of his hand, and Eren shakes his head. He’s not going to engage in a meaningless fight just for them to take their frustrations out on each other. That’s not how this relationship works. If he has to be the responsible one in this situation, then so be it. 

Eren slides the pristine glass door open, revealing a sizable balcony overlooking the plethora of twinkling city lights and traffic. The cool air engulfs the vigilante, he takes a deep breath of it, expelling his hot-headed thoughts. 

He closes the door behind him and forgoes the two chairs set at a round wooden table for leaning against the glass and steel railing. 

Eren’s already unkempt hair tousles from the wind, he closes his eyes and enjoys the ambient noises created by the city below. Sometimes he wishes he could see the stars from here, but it’s nearly impossible to see anything except a light-polluted sky and the northern star. 

The younger man had lost track of time before he heard the door slide shut softly. 

“I-” Levi’s deep voice starts, but he cuts himself off, “I’m sorry.” 

Eren hums, encouraging him to go on. “I do need you. Okay? I don’t even know why I said I didn’t.”

Teal eyes close, and plush lips let out a puff of air, “You do.” 

A pause. 

Levi solidifies next to him, close enough to feel the ghost of his cool body, but not enough to touch, “I do.” He confirms.

“And?” 

“You deserve more.” He can feel Levi duck his head in shame without even looking at the man. 

Eren’s eerily calm, both of them don’t do well with a big wordy speech about love and eternal monogamy or whatever romantic couples do when they deal with insecurities, “No. I don’t.” 

Levi inhales deeply, to not say something snappy, “I didn’t come out here to fight. I came here to apologize.” 

“And I’m here for an explanation.” Eren finally turns his head to face his boyfriend, regarding him with expectant eyes. He’s resting his entwined fists on the metal railing, leaning over with the rest of his muscular body. 

“All you’re going to get is an excuse.” 

“That’s fine.” 

“ _No_ , it isn’t.” 

“I thought you said you weren’t here to fight.” 

The metallic-eyed man narrows his eyes into slits, “Everyone who’s cared for me has left in some form or another, and when you nag me about my health or some shit, it scares the shit out of me. And I’m an asshole. There. Are you happy?” 

Eren lifts his hand, and caresses Levi’s cheekbone, “Then I guess you’ve been scared shitless for the past three years.” 

Levi exhales a shaky laugh, and grips the brunet’s arm with an iron grip, “You have no fucking idea.” 

Eren’s eyes drift from Levi’s lash shrouded silver, lingering on his lips. His movements are slow and deliberate, his heart beating faster and faster as Levi’s face moves incrementally closer to his. Eren halts his movement stopping as his nose is just short of touching Levi’s cheek. His warm breath puffing against his cold cheek. “I think I do,” Eren mutters mainly to himself. 

“Just fucking kiss me.” Levi grabs the collar of Eren’s shirt, expertly mashing their lips together as their teeth clash and tongues entangle. Teal eyes widen before shutting and melting under the searing pressure of Levi’s lips. His kisses remind the reporter of the ocean with the varying depths they carry. Sometimes they’re considerate and warm like waves lapping against the sand on a softly lit summer morning. And times like these where it’s open-mouthed and hungrily mind-numbing resembling a storm’s turbulent winds and shattering waves; threatening to break the foundations Eren has built for them as he watches joyously in his delirious state of mind. Levi’s hands find their way to Eren’s waist and press him closer, and Eren’s cup his face, both holding onto the other for dear life. As though they were dangerously close to getting swept up in the tempestuous waves they’ve created. 

Bit by bit, the kiss becomes warmer and softer as Eren’s muscles relax and as Levi’s hands caress the curve of his spine, and Eren slowly loosens his firm grip on the other man’s sharp jaw. No longer was it sucking in hard breaths and clashing teeth, but the languid stroke of skillful tongues and the comforting pressure of familiar lips. 

Reluctantly, Levi pulls away as Eren chases his lips for another fix, and rests his forehead on Eren’s, breathlessly Levi asks, “Does this mean you forgive me?” His hands still mindlessly stroking the reporter’s spine. 

Eren’s fingers drift to the sides of the billionaire’s neck, resting there as he feels the other man’s racing pulse, “Yes. But you’re still an asshole.” 

Mercury pierces ocean green with a sharp intensity, and something akin to guilt, “I never said I wasn’t.” 

“God,” Eren huffs a quiet laugh, feeling the tips of his ears heat up, and Levi’s lip quirks up endearingly, “I love you.” 

“I love you too,” Levi’s eyes soften their intensity, “Brat.” 

“Aaaand you ruined the moment.” Eren pulls Levi into an embrace with his arms hooked around the CEO’s neck and his chin resting on top of dark, silky locks. 

Levi shifts in Eren’s embrace, fitting his shorter frame against Eren’s taller one as though they were puzzle pieces, “Fuck you.” He huffs, resting his chin on Eren’s shoulder. 

Eren starts humming a random tune, swaying them to an imaginary beat, “Shut up and let me enjoy this old man.” 

“Tch.” Levi sounds, as though Eren didn’t notice the way he was following Eren’s lead. 

  
  


Levi feels his cocoon of warmth shift in his sleep, and he instinctively wraps his arm around the source. “Babe, I’m not going anywhere,” A familiar voice croons, but that only makes the older man tighten his hold on his precious source with a fervor. 

“Don’t go,” Levi groans out, nuzzling into the bare body next to him, his tongue loosened from sleep and last night’s activities. 

“I need to pee,” The voice deadpans, and the fruitless struggling commences. 

“Don’t care.” 

He feels Eren shift beside him until the younger’s warm breath ghosts his ear, “It’s noon.”   
Levi jerks up swiftly, knocking both of their heads together, hard. Both groan as sharp and jarring pain sobers their sleep drunk brains. Levi ignores the pain and checks the alarm clock, it was 8:34 am. 

Shit. He’s still late for work, but not half a day's work so he can’t bring himself to care. He’s the boss, it’s not like he’s going to fire himself. Plus Erwin isn’t going to fire his most determined and punctual reporter for a couple of hours. 

Eren swiftly gets out of the bed and makes his way to their shared bathroom, “You play dirty, Yeager.” 

“You didn’t seem to mind that last night,” Eren calls out, and Levi throws himself back into bed and covers a pillow over his face to block out the abhorred sunlight stinging his sensitive eyes. 

He hasn’t slept this well in weeks, he has a fairly strict regimen due to his insomnia and sensitivity to any type of noise. He was used to rarely getting three hours in, so seven is a shock to his system. Before Eren moved in, he used to sleep with a knife underneath his pillow. Now he sleeps with a sheathed knife under his pillow, the reporter never questioned it already knowing the bare minimum of his past. 

After hearing the tell-tale flush of their toilet and the sink’s faucet running, Eren returns and climbs back into bed with his boyfriend. Levi instinctively curls into Eren’s body, and the teal-eyed man reciprocates the sentiment. “We’re late for work.” 

“I don’t give a shit.” Levi presses his cheek into Eren’s lightly muscled chest, relishing in the other man’s heated skin. His body is infuriatingly alluring with his sun-kissed skin extenuating his already lithe and muscled body, his skin is flawless except for a small silvery scar at the nape of his neck. And his glittering ocean-green eyes containing specks of gold Levi swears he’s going to get lost in one day, always regarding him with this foreign soft, forgiving, unconditional love that simultaneously makes Levi want to clam up and drown in it. Although he would never admit it, he enjoys their height difference since it allows him to be intimately acquainted with Eren’s steady heartbeat, and being able to pull Eren down to press his lips against his. 

“Fine.” Eren slings an arm around Levi, as the hero’s naked body is practically on top of his. “Thirty more minutes.” 

Translation: another hour. 

“You have a deal.” 

Eren hums, and pulls up their white comforter around the couple’s entwined bodies, “‘m sorry about last night.” 

When Levi had gotten home last night, seeing Eren regard him with those idiotically loving eyes and caring touches, it engulfed the silver-eyed man with self-loathing and guilt. Nothing new there, but coupled with a small part of him being innately physically attracted to another man on the job made those well-acquainted feelings double in size. Since the older man doesn’t feel attracted to others simply because of their physical attributes. He can find someone objectively good looking and move on with his day, and back in his early to mid-twenties, he might’ve slept with them. But wanting the vigilante to continue touching him, to look at him with fiery electric blue eyes made Levi’s skin crawl and burn at the touch. 

The first thing Levi noticed when he met Eren wasn’t his endearingly unruly locks or his glittering eyes. 

It was a regular run of the mill job four years ago, saving as many residents in a collapsing, burning building and leaving before any interviews can be taken. When he had first got to the building, there was this blond girl, her distraught blue eyes, ash-covered blond hair, and white headband are ingrained in the hero’s mind to this day, as though he had seen her somewhere before. She was attempting to rush back into the building and effectively skating past the police officers surrounding the area so no one could get back in, and then he saw a man barrel past the police officers after her. And instead of grabbing her, kicking and screaming and using his physical supremacy to his advantage, he rushes in front of her and kneels, stopping the girl in her tracks. Levi doesn’t know what he said or how he got this distraught child to stop herself from rushing into a collapsing building. But he offers a hand to the girl, and she takes it. 

All of this happened in a matter of seconds, but Levi can remember every detail. 

Later on, when Levi saves three other little girls from the top floor, the blond was rushing to save her sisters. Since they got lost behind her when she was clambering out with her parents. 

That simple display intrigued Levi, to the point where his eyes would instinctively scan for him in the crowd. After seeing him in a group of reporters at a crime scene, Levi put two and two together. And he may or may not have shown the albeit, incredibly handsome reporter extreme favoritism. Which ultimately led to an utterly complicated romance that was bound to crash and burn. 

“You should be, you hurt my feelings.” Eren’s voice rasps in his morning voice that effectively turns legs to jelly. 

“I’m serious,” Levi shifts his head so that he’s looking up at his boyfriend, already inwardly slapping himself for getting ready to say some sappy shit, “I’m always going to need you by my side.”

Eren looks down at him, a smug smile curling on his lips, “I know.” 

Levi buries his face in Eren’s chest to mask his breathy laugh, he’s in love with an idiot. 

The CEO jerks away to the aggravating sound of his doorbell. Levi’s still laying on top of his boyfriend, much to his satisfaction, but the doorbell was going crazy and Levi doesn’t feel like murdering someone today.   
So he does the next best thing, he jabs Eren’s side, “Get the door.” 

Eren takes a sharp breath as he awakens from his light slumber, “You’ll have to let me go then.” 

Levi contemplates the sacrifice, briefly before the _ding ding dingdingidngdingdingdingdindingdidingding_ assaults his ears once again after a brief reprieve. 

“Fine.” Levi rolls over, releasing Eren’s lithe frame from his hold. 

“I’ll be right back,” The teal-eyed man kisses Levi’s forehead, and Levi peaks open a metallic eye. Eren was clumsily shoving on a fresh pair of grey boxers, and one of Levi’s slightly bigger black jumpers. Since Levi’s shoulders, chest, and legs are corded with muscles making him have some mass on the taller man. His hair is more of a twangy mess than usual, not pulled in a half-up style. A pang of fondness fills Levi’s chest at the sight. 

“Tell Hanji to fuck off.”

“No,” Eren smiles and walks out of their bedroom. Which in no way gives Levi the perfect view of long toned legs as he walks away.

Levi sighs to himself, as he revolves himself to sitting up and readying himself for unwelcome company. But considering the fact that he doesn’t give a shit about looking presentable in his own home, he decides to throw on a pair of boxers and random sweatpants. 

He glances at their alarm clock. It’s noon. No wonder Hanji is here, they probably thought he was dead. 

After brushing his teeth, Levi makes his way out to their living room area to find a fumbling boyfriend, and Hanji and Petra Ral are sitting on his couch with mugs in hand. 

The secretary’s already flushed face turns as her hair, as her eyes trail her’s boss’s body before reluctantly turning her gaze to anywhere that wasn’t Levi, Hanji just gives him a cheeky smile. 

Eren gives him a captivating nervous half-smile, pupils slightly dilating when he spots his boyfriend, “What are you doing here.” Levi crosses his arms, leaning against the hallway’s entrance frame. 

Hanji pouts, and sets their mug down, “I came up to your office to check on you, and you weren’t there. Which is unheard of, I thought you were dead, or worse, or dissolved in a vat of acid where your body could never be found. So I rushed over here as fast I could.” Hanji takes a deep breath, “Plus Petra wanted to come as well.” 

Levi’s eyes threaten to roll to the back of his head but deems that it isn’t worth it. “Okay,” He makes a move to the kitchen to make a cup of earl grey. “Now that you know that I’m not dead.” He gives both of his employees a pointed look, “You can go.” 

There’s only one person in this room that doesn’t know his identity, which ironically, is the person who knows him the best in both identities. 

Eren silently hands him a warm cup of earl grey, his smooth tanned fingers grazing long, calloused ones, sending a pleasant jolt down Levi’s spine. 

Petra sets her boss with a stern look, “Don’t be rude, Hanji was so worried about you.” 

Eren pokes Levi’s bare ribs, “She’s gotta point.” 

“Thank you, cutie!” Hanji bounces in their seat. “Since I’m here now, can I do some tests on Eren? I need some human samples for one of my new projects.” Their eyes sparkle, even though they already know it’s fruitless. 

Eren recoils violently, covering quickly with a laugh, “Maybe another time Dr. Zoe.” 

“Please, we’ve been over this, call me Hanji.” The scientist beams a smile, “And I’ll hold you to it.” 

The reporter opens his mouth to reply, but Levi cuts him off, “You won’t be holding him to shit, four-eyes.” 

Another jab, “Would you guys like some lunch? We’ll just get dressed and then I’ll prepare something.” 

Petra smiles a bit too sweetly, “That would be great, Eren. Thank you.” 

Eren nods, and Levi takes a gulp of tea before following Eren to their bedroom, closing their door quietly behind him, “Play nice please, they were worried about you.” Eren scolds, shuffling through his drawer in their sleek black dresser. 

“Why? You already do that enough for me.” Levi catches the white T-shirt thrown at his face. “What? Too soon?” 

“Yes,” Eren says, gracelessly throwing on a pair of ripped whitewash jeans. Maybe it was Levi’s inner starving child, but he never understood purposely ripping clothes. But he could appreciate how great they made Eren’s ass look. 

Levi throws the shirt over his head, noticing how snug it is on his torso, “Are you presentable or do you need another hour?” 

A small smile tugs at his lips, ignoring the dig, “Let’s just get out there.” 

When they do, Petra and Hanji are talking in hushed voices until they abruptly stop once they spot the couple.   
“Whatcha guys talking about?” Levi cocks his head somewhat passive-aggressively. 

Petra fiddles with the rim of her mug and Hanji regards him with analytical eyes, “Just about how you managed to score a beauty like Eren.” Did Levi imagine it or did Petra just scoff? 

“O-oh,” The tips of the reporter’s ears turn a tinge pink, “Are you guys okay with grilled cheese?” 

“Yesssss, you’re an angel!” Hanji’s expression suddenly shifts to a sparkling one when they turn their attention towards Eren. 

Sometimes Levi thinks the scientist likes his boyfriend more than he does. Not that he minds, it’s hard to gain Hanji’s genuine affection. At least, that’s what he’s heard, from Levi’s standpoint they’ve been overly affectionate the moment he met them. 

Eren gives one of those genuinely adorable smiles and presses a chaste kiss on Levi’s lips before making his way to the kitchen, wordlessly telling Levi to enjoy his time with his best friend and coworker/ trusted ally/one-night stand. 

Levi wants to _not_ do that. But he decides that it’s not the time to push back on the gentle gesture. 

He claims the matching leather love seat next to the couch, avoiding proximity to the secretary, knowing that any form of non-professional affection would only encourage her thinly-veiled bitterness towards his relationship of three years. 

“Hanji just told me.” Petra hisses at him, “You haven’t told him?” 

Levi gives Hanji a pointed look, “What? I thought you already told her?”   
The CEO nearly bangs his head on his glass coffee table, only refraining because he would have to clean the imprint later. _I didn’t want another ‘Pick me, I’m the only one who will accept every part of you’ speech_ , Levi wants to hiss back. Sadly, he’s not that heartless as to disclose a nearly heartbreakingly vulnerable moment for the secretary. 

Instead, he shrugs, “It never came up.” 

“No,” Petra glares at him, “He just doesn’t tell me anything anymore.” 

“I didn’t think I needed to run every decision I make by you” Levi glares back. 

“Well, maybe you should.” 

“Why?” _So I can watch as I actively break your heart?_

Hanji clasps their hands together, and laughs jovially, “Aren’t you guys such kidders?” slinging their arm around Petra’s shoulder, “I don’t know about you, but an angel is cooking for us, so enjoy it.”   
“Oi, shitty four-eyes, he’s mine.” 

Hanji nearly trills in excitement, “Possessive. I like it! Can I take your pulse?” 

“No.” Levi leans back, “And keep your eyes on your assistant.” 

“Don’t worry your pretty little munchkin head, Moblit has my heart and soul.” Hanji pushes up their glasses. 

“Does he have your brain too?” 

“Levi.” Eren reprimands from the kitchen. 

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, sorry.” Hanji cackles, and he flips off his best friend. 

Levi opens his mouth to take another jab, but Eren walks in with a plate of grilled cheeses and four other plates, “Sorry I couldn’t do more.” He sheepishly passes the plates around. 

“No, this is fine Eren,” Petra placates, taking the glass plate from his outstretched hand. 

Eren sets the plate of food on the coffee table and takes a seat on the arm of Levi’s chair, Hanji nods fervently, “Yeah, we should be apologizing for interrupting your little paradise.”   
“You should b- ow,” Levi rubs the arm Eren pinched dramatically. 

“It’s no problem at all.” Eren takes a bite of his sandwich, and Levi being hyper-aware of his presence notices a stray lock of soft hair tumble into Eren’s field of vision. Mindlessly, Levi tucks the wayward piece of hair behind his ear, earning an affectionate gaze from the other. 

“So, Eren, what do you do for a living?” Petra asks, as though she doesn’t know. 

“I’m a reporter for the Shiganshina Journal,” Eren responds amicably, “Usually I just conduct interviews and cover various subjects. That’s how I met Levi, I was writing an article about him.”

“Oh yes, I think I met you when you came in.” 

“Hm, I think your right.” As Eren and Petra make small talk, Levi just wants to shut both of them up. The fakeness of Petra’s tone and Eren’s smile is making his bones turn plastic. Good thing he had Hanji too enamored with their meal to care about niceties. 

“How long have you and Levi known each other?” Eren asks, polishing off his sandwich. 

Petra nibbles at hers, “Around six or five years, give or take.” 

A mischievous smile curls on Eren’s lips, “What was he like back then?” He questions with genuine curiosity. 

It was Levi’s turn to pinch Eren’s arm, and that elicits a pleasant laugh from the woman, “A hot mess.” 

“Really? I would love to know mor-ow,” Eren glares at his boyfriend without the necessary venom for it to mean anything. 

“I’m right here.” Levi reminds the two, handing Eren his barely eaten sandwich, he doesn’t eat much when he first wakes up. 

Petra ignores him, “Let’s just say, he had a love for entrepreneurship in his early twenties.” Making his self-destructive man-whore streak sound more like a quirky hobby is barely flattering. 

Levi was going to need a new secretary if this keeps up. 

“Oh?” Eren raises an eyebrow, thankfully not getting the reference. 

“Look at the time,” Levi glances at his phone for show, “your lunch break is almost over, you guys might want to get back before your boss fires you.” 

“But-” Petra stops as Levi gives her the _look_. 

“Alright,” Hanji stands up and stretches their back, causing a loud pop to sound, “Do you mind if I take the rest of these?” They gesture to the multiple sandwiches left on the plate. 

The couple shakes their heads, “Go for it, you need to eat more anyway.” Levi says. 

“I’ll get you some Tupperware for the trip back,” Eren makes a move to go, but Hanji stops him. 

“Don’t worry, I know where Levi hoards the good stuff.” And with that they’re off, raiding Levi’s kitchen. 

Petra stands up, dusting her red pencil skirt off, “Thank you for the meal.” She nods at Eren, having warmed up to him slightly, “Oh, by the way, Levi you got an invite to that annual masquerade charity ball, and since your public image is dwindling, it’s best if you go.” 

Levi nods, knowing there was going to be a future debacle between the couple about plus ones and panic attacks. “Okay, email me the dates and time. I won’t be at work for the rest of the day, but I’ll catch up on shit tomorrow.” 

Petra makes her way to the door, and Hanji materializes beside her with a plastic tub filled with sandwiches, “Thank you for the goodies, we’ll be outta your hair now,” Hanji opens the door, and just as quickly as they came, they left with a bang. 

“Did you call Erwin?” Levi asks, pulling Eren close by the waist. 

“Yeah, I’m taking my first sick day.” Eren rests his chin on the top of Levi’s head, “Why?”

“I want to make up for lost time.” 

“Shouldn’t we talk about-” 

“Nope,” Levi mumbles, the soft fabric of his jumper pressing into his cheekbone, as he hears Eren’s firm heartbeat, “Let’s just go back to bed.” 

Every part of his mind wants to hide away from the world and ignore the massive decision he made last night. He just knows he’s going to find out some bullshit he wishes he didn’t. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... a bit of a slow chapter. But I do wanna talk about Petra, because I derive a sick pleasure from her pain in this story, I love her though!  
> I love Petra to death (oof) but right now she's coming from a bitter and jealous place because an irrational part of her feels entitled to be with Levi. Objectively speaking, don't kill me, Petra is the most convenient and "best" person he could be with since she's the embodiment of the mundane and normalcy he craves in his hectic life, she already knows his identity, and he trusts her with his life. Subjectively, in this story, she's the worst "choice" because he just doesn't love her the way she does him. Love isn't about logic or who's going to be the most convenient to date, it's about who you want to be with despite all of that technical stuff (the technical stuff is a plus tho). That's why Levi digs himself in a hole this chapter because he's weirded out at the prospect of ever wanting someone that is not Eren. And that's why Levi doesn't notice how impeccably dressed and meticulously put together Petra is, or how soft her hair looks and instead notices how Eren's pupils dilate when he looks at him. Bc feelings be weird like that man, aaaaannd Levi and Eren are kinda soulmates so checkmate. But I still feel bad for Petra and I want her to have her own little arc, since I would like to see her and Eren become allies. 
> 
> So yeah... I'm stepping off my soapbox now lol.  
> Oh also that song Heather by Conan Gray basically sums up Petra's feelings https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPUg7n8-M6o  
> Also, I played these songs on repeat Eden is literally a God since they capture the vibe of Levi and Eren's relationship.  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asuA2-pbch0 (some angsty french for your Levi loving soul)  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaSVrSGdQ3s (The song's name is Wings... need I say more?)  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aTNoZihD7Q (and this. Just this. I was looping this when I was writing the balcony scene)  
> *chef's kiss  
> If anyone wants to check out my:  
> Tumblr: losticarus510  
> Instagram: losticarus510  
> Kudos for making it to the end of the chapter here have a Hanji face (¬‿¬)  
> All the comments and kudos are greatly appreciated!!


	8. Chapter 8: Plans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy shit a thousand hits??? That's fucking crazy, thank you for reading!  
> Thank you to regular_john for beta reading this chapter!

#  Chapter 8: Plans 

“Are you serious?” Ice injects into Eren’s veins at Armin’s words. 

“Yep,” Armin runs a hand through his blond bangs tiredly, “A weapon’s transaction between the Laughing Giant’s gang and a couple of black market dealers is planned during that charity ball tonight.” 

“Where?” Eren asks, chewing at his lip. How was he going to spin up an excuse for his boyfriend this time? 

“Oh,” Armin laughs mirthlessly, “Here’s the best part, it’s taking place _in_ the ball. So… if you can dispatch the situation and take everyone involved in the deal out, then you’ll be golden.”  
“Do I get to kill anyone tonight?” Eren leans back on Armin’s crickety wooden dining chair, something in him wanting to feel the satisfying pressure of skin and bone resisting his blade.

“Kitz Weilman and Rod Reiss are the dealers,” Armin turns his computer towards the vigilante, showing two photos of the men. One has a light brown beard and mustache and slicked-back hair, with broad tense shoulders and paranoid eyes. The other had short-cropped black hair, a pudgy face, and strangely familiar stark blue eyes. “But the Laughing Giant seems to be keeping the identities of his guys under wraps.” 

_They have faces that are just asking to be ripped apart_ , Eren thinks idly, a slow smile spreading across his face, “What are their histories?”   
“Nothing.” Armin shakes his head, “Just weapon and drug dealings on the side of their office jobs. Weilman used to be in the military, but he was discharged.” 

“So…” Eren trails off mournfully, 

“No cold-blooded murder tonight.” Armin rolls his eyes, smiling smugly. “If you want, I can find you a serial killer pedophile tomorrow.” 

The reporter groans, and throws an arm over his eyes. He knows his blood lust has become somewhat of a dark joke among his siblings ever since they were in elementary school. Except, instead of the brunet jumping into fights he knows he can’t win, he now starts fights he knows he  _ can  _ win.

Killing for Eren Yeager came as naturally as breathing. 

Those who preyed on the weak and innocent needed to be punished, and the vigilante sure as hell knows that the justice system is too fucked up to do so. What better way to enact justice and do what the city’s precious heroes cannot than to give those scum a taste of their own medicine; ridding them of the chance to ever enact harm on anyone else? 

Every kill lifted a bit of weight from Eren’s chest while simultaneously tightening the noose around his throat. A good person, a hero, wouldn’t take pleasure in death, in fact, they’d mourn over the corpses they’ve made. They remember the vast number of faces and have terrified expressions and pleading voices ingrained into their minds. But for the vigilante, they blurred. Meaningless pieces in an overarching game Eren had no idea how to play. 

Armin probably remembers their pleading screams over the coms, he probably remembers the face of everyone he’s helped the vigilante kill. He probably dreams of them at night and wakes up in a cold sweat trying to comprehend what he’s done. 

He’s a good man, he’s not a monster. 

“You ruin everything,” Eren moans, instead of voicing his thoughts. 

Armin shrugs, and returns to tapping away on his device, “Erwin asked me to come with him tonight, but I don’t know if it’ll be too much for you to try to protect both me and Levi in case something goes wrong.” 

The teal-eyed man ignores the spark of anxiety situating itself in his chest, “No, you should go. You’ll be able to cover for me, and you’ll be able to spend time with your new boyfriend. It’s a win-win.” Eren peaks out from under his arm to see the small blond turn red. 

“We-we’re not dating, we’re just casually seeing each other.” Armin ducks his head bashfully, trying to play off his fluster. 

Eren hums, “Sure, just like Levi and I, we’re just roommates who occasionally fuck.” 

“Oh my god, Eren please don’t.” 

“What?” The vigilante turns his teal gaze over to the medical student, “Am I hurting your virgin ears?”   
Armin turns a shade darker, “Yes.” 

“Yes, you’re a virgin? Or yes I’m burning your ears off?” 

“Both,” Eren’s eyes widen. 

“Wait… Seriously?” 

Levi sighs, rubbing his temples. Who the hell decides to deal weapons at a charity event of all places? Although this masquerade ball bullshit was a glorified ego-stroking contest for the wealthy to feel as though they’re doing something right, although they’re wearing more money than they would ever donate.

Erwin and Hanji had agreed that it would be more beneficial if Phoenix didn’t burst into the ball in all of his heroic glory. Since it would only send the dealers and the Laughing Giant’s men running for the hills in a matter of seconds, and without information on half of the party involved, it only made sense to scope the party as a guest and dispatch them quietly. 

The editor-in-chief vowed to cover for Levi with Eren most of the night, since the hero would have to make a public entrance as the former playboy, eccentric billionaire, then make a quick change into something more typical of a mundane millionaire looking for praise. Nothing he hasn’t done before, but it was a pain in the ass. 

Hopefully, he’d get in one dance with his boyfriend before he has to abandon him for the evening. 

Hanji refuses to even go near those events and has opted to stay in their lab to direct Levi from there. 

The only upside to this evening was seeing Eren in a fitted suit for the first time in months. He has been avid in declining to go to public formal events since he found them useless, and Eren always left ashen pale and shaking. And his grip on Levi’s hand would get incrementally tighter to the point where it was bone-crushing despite his assurances that everything was fine. There are some things that they don’t talk about from their pasts, and for Eren,  _ this  _ was one of them, for Levi it was his time on the island. 

Despite his tendency to avoid the topic, he has revealed things about his past to the teal-eyed man without consciously doing so. References have slipped out about his life with Furlan and Isabel more than he would prefer to as though that thick wall he built to keep himself from thinking of them deteriorates every time he sees Eren’s sparkling eyes and earnest voice.

“Ms. Ral?” He calls out, “Can you see to it that Mr. Yeager and I’s suits are picked up from the dry cleaners as well as the other one.” 

Petra materializes right in front of his desk, “Of course sir, is there anything else I should help with?”   
Levi shakes his head, “No, that would be all.” 

The secretary has been acting odd since last week, after barging in on Eren and his domestic bliss. Not that he could truly hold it against her. With his profession, she and Hanji were bound to be worried out of their minds with him not contacting them for hours on end. 

She was terser, and her gaze lingered on Levi longer than usual. It felt as though she was trying to pin down the reason behind his motives. Motives of what, he’s not sure. But the woman wears her heart on her sleeve or just says them outwardly. Sooner or later he’s going to find out, whether he likes it or not. 

Levi continues his budgeting, finding a mundane comfort in organizing the company’s once chaotic financing situation. 

Although Petra’s question did ring in his mind. Why doesn’t he tell Eren who he is? Why doesn’t he come clean and give the man he loves the honesty the other has always given to him? A simple answer would be that he’s scared. Utterly terrified at the thought of Eren not accepting Levi in his entirety, and looking at him with those same pair of brokenhearted eyes as Levi just deals more blows to his heart. But that was only partially true. Eren’s forgiveness and love are boundless towards the people he loves, in some ways, Levi does not doubt that he would be hurt but would ultimately choose to stay. No, it isn’t the fear of losing Eren, it’s the fear of losing what they have. The reporter is Levi’s only sliver of normality. Throughout his life, he has been dealt with waves upon waves of chaos and the death that follows. He wants to section this relationship off from these turbulent but reliable patterns, and stay in his blissful bubble instead of confronting reality for a little while longer. 

He’s just not ready.    


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not posting last week, I'm not that great at managing my time smh. Plus I've been brainstorming other AU ideas for these two bc the possibilities are endless, you can put them in any world and it'll make sense. Seriously a hunger games AU, a noragami AU, and a little mermaid AU are probably things you'll be seeing from me in the future if you stalk this ship tag lol. I just want a happy ending for these two :(  
> If anyone wants to check out my:  
> Tumblr: losticarus510  
> Insta: losticarus510  
> I'll probably be posting fanart and updates there in the future. 
> 
> Congrats you made it to the end here have an Eren face ᕙ( ︡'︡益'︠)ง  
> All the comments and kudos are greatly appreciated!  
> Also, Grammarly gave this an 87 as a score for this chapter and I'm salty about it.


	9. Chapter 9: Masquerading, Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thank you regular_john for beta reading!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BOOM baby... I'm back.

#  Chapter 9: Masquerading, Part 1

Mikasa Ackerman was close to bashing her head into her desk. How could Eren be so careless?

During her teenage years, the lawyer had developed a sense of contempt for intrusive reporters and cops. Since her adoptive brother had a pension for throwing fists at anything that moved or dared to glance at Armin in a vaguely disrespectful manner. Okay; maybe her memory of the past is overdramatized, but that doesn’t change the fact that Eren’s recklessness has been pervading her life since childhood.

Now, as a grown woman in a profession based in upholding the law, whilst aiding a vigilante in his nefarious murdering sprees, that distaste for government officials and invasive questions has risen to the forefront of her mind. 

And it didn’t help that Eren  _ and  _ Armin have been torturing military personnel, as though they’re bulletproof. Which, even with all of Eren’s powers and Armin’s intellect, was far from the truth. 

In some ways, she feels as though she’s a fifteen-year-old again, worrying constantly about whatever her brothers were getting into. Cautiously protecting Armin from outside forces, and lecturing Eren on his utter  _ shit  _ taste in men. 

_ History repeats itself _ , she thinks as she meanders away on another convoluted case her boss gave her to keep her busy. 

She never understood, and probably could never understand Eren’s version of justice. But that doesn’t stop her from standing by his side, she knows that he’s going to do what he sets his mind to if she’s there to shield him or not. 

Armin has called her earlier this week to tell the lawyer of his  _ abhorrent  _ plan to take down some arms dealers at a banquet. If Mikasa could strangle someone through the phone, she would’ve. 

No, it’s not like Eren had let himself get shot earlier this month, so there was nothing to worry about. Except there was because he had to get a bullet extracted by Armin with a bank robbery gone array. 

And they act like she’s crazy for being so against this vigilante act. Sure, when they were teenagers they thought they could rule the world because the trio figured out they could hack into some government systems and stop the end of the world every once in a blue moon. But now they have goals, families, friends, significant others, professions, and lives on the line now. This isn’t the whims of a rambunctious group of teenagers, this is real life. 

All Mikasa wants to do is to trap the people she loves in a big bubble, where nothing can hurt them. From boys to bullets. 

But Armin and Eren seem to be doing everything in their power to make sure that they don’t even stay in the already alarmingly dangerous “normal people” bubble, and would rather kill pedophiles and hack into the dark market. 

Mikasa sighs, rubbing her temples, “Are you okay, Ms. Ackerman?” A small concerned voice jolted the lawyer from her reverie. 

“Yes,” Mikasa nods curtly, her lips forming a small smile, “I’m fine Historia.” 

The petite blonde’s cheeks tinged red when Mikasa turned her onyx gaze towards her. The intern appears to be standing in front of her office door, seemingly already making her entrance known before entering. Mikasa mentally berates herself for allowing that slip in her defense.

Historia clears her throat, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear, clutching a stack of papers close to her chest, “Sorry, I just- It looked like you were in deep thought.” 

“No,” Mikasa shakes her head, “No need to apologize. Is there something that you need from me?” 

Historia’s an intern that so happened to be Mikasa’s boss’s, Freida Reiss, sister. Despite the amount of needless gossip in the office, the blonde is more than capable of doing her job diligently and didn’t just stumble upon this opportunity with just her sister’s good graces and father’s social standing. Mikasa internally cringes at the thought of the girl’s father, seeing that he was on Eren’s hit list tonight. 

Although there was something akin to sympathy pulling at her heartstrings, whispering into her ear to tell the blonde woman about her father’s fate. Since Eren doesn’t kill unless he finds something reprehensible, her father’s illicit activities will still be blasted out to the public once the job is done, giving the police no leeway to skimp out on prosecuting him. Ruining his reputation and potentially his relationships. But Mikasa has been in this situation more times than she can count and decides to leave well-enough alone.

As usual. 

“O-oh yes,” Historia gives a relieved smile, her shoulders slightly slumping, making her already small frame even smaller. “Freida- I mean Ms. Reiss, asked for me to give you these to look over.” 

Mikasa gestures for her to set the papers down on top of the mountain of others that reside in neat stacks on her desk, “Thank you,”   
The firm is small, yet reputable. Simple and quaint. Something foreign yet welcomed to Mikasa. She feels at home and satisfied with her work, however tedious the paperwork was. Firms from all over the country wanted to whisk her away with hefty offers she’d be a fool to refuse. 

Luckily enough, she’s a fool. 

After placing the papers on her desk, slightly skewing the neatly stacked pile, Historia stands there awkwardly, as though there was something at the tip of her tongue, “Is that all?” Mikasa asks, nearly slamming her head onto her desk at another display of emotional ineptitude. 

“Y-yes,” Historia squeaks and practically runs out of Mikasa’s office. 

_ Weird _ . 

Mikasa shakes her head and turns her attention back to the ever-growing stack of papers that threatened to drown her. Figuring she would be skipping lunch again today, she got to work and decided to lecture her brothers extensively tonight as a form of stress relief. 

  
  


“Heyyyy, Annie what’s up?” Eren takes a bite of his sandwich, Armin hiding a snicker behind him. They have just finished devising a plan for tonight, and Eren thanks whatever goddess that created this universe that he had an hour lunch break. 

“What do you want, Eren?” The cop deadpans over the phone, “I’m working.” 

The reporter pouts innocently, “I just wanted to check up on an old friend.” 

“Out with it.” 

Eren lets out an overly dramatic sigh, “I was just wondering if you could check up Mikasa during your lunch break? Preferably with Japanese takeout? You can tell her I sent you.” 

“Is that all?” Eren shakes Armin’s shoulder excitedly, mouthing “SHE SAID YES”. 

Giving his best Levi impression, “Yes, that would be all.” 

And with that, she hung up. Eren has to admit, he enjoys the blonde’s company, despite his aversion to law enforcement. He kind of threw his old rules out the window when he started dating a superhero. 

She doesn’t need to fill the void with conversation, and just let the silence speak for itself. They have an unspoken mutual understanding and respect for the other, and it was refreshing to talk to someone who expressed genuine interest in the things that he writes about. Eren usually went hiking on the weekends with her, since Levi detests the number of sweaty people on public trails, Armin would rather die than neglect studying, and Mikasa needs a break every week before she combusts. Plus it was nice having friends outside of family. Even if it was only one since he has a pension for keeping everyone at arm’s length and/or pissing them off enough to not want to be associated with him. 

He has always been attracted to the more muted, silent people who scarcely expressed emotion. Eren figures it’s a type of balancing act, he’s loud and emotional enough for two people. 

“I feel like Grisha gave you some type of aphrodite-Esque power with your newfound matchmaking prowess.” Armin eyes him suspiciously. 

Eren shrugs, “Maybe. All I know is that I’m playing the long game with those two.” 

Mikasa has always been living her life protecting the two of them, never taking a break to just  _ feel  _ anything. And maybe it’s better off that way. But all he wants for her is happiness, and if that means hooking her up with a pocket-sized cop girlfriend, then so be it. 

Anyone but Jean. 

Armin raises an eyebrow, “How about we not play games with people's love lives.” 

“Funny coming from you.” 

“I do nothing of the sort,” Armin exclaims dramatically punching his brother in the arm, “You and Levi just needed a little nudge.” 

Eren smirks at the admission but the blond keeps going, “But that's different from orchestrating a relationship from the get-go!”   
“They just need a little nudge.” 

“Shut up.” 

“Or what? You’re gonna tell Erwin on me?”   
“Eat your food, you only have fifteen more minutes.” Armin rolls his eyes and turns back to his laptop to solidify the plans of tonight.

The plan was solid but simple. Armin would arrive early with Erwin, plant another suit, and mask in a “loose” tile above the first stall in the men’s restroom. And at the end of the night, he can switch back without anyone being the wiser. Not full-proof, but enough. 

Eren’s nerves are on fire. 

He’s been well acquainted with every form of distress since his comeback to vigilantism. Although this trepidation had nothing to do with his nefarious night work, it was something bone-deep. Intrinsic. 

He always got like this before going to formal events, his former therapist had called these events “triggers”, Eren sees them as annoyances. How could the sight of dim, romantic lighting and handcrafted chandeliers make the man who has faced every sort of monster one can fathom tremble like a delicate flower blowing away in a gust of wind? 

Failing to button up his finely tailored suit jacket with trembling hands, the vigilante mentally berated himself. It’s been nearly sixteen years and he’s still acting like a child. 

Eren let out a frustrated growl, acutely aware of his boyfriend staring at his pitiful state with those stupidly attentive metallic eyes. “Do you need some help?” He asks simply, leaning against the doorframe. 

Levi’s fully put together, his silken hair slicked back although a wayward strand falls onto his forehead endearingly that Eren decides not to comment for the risk of the CEO rushing to the bathroom and “fixing” his hair for another fifteen minutes. He’s wearing a princely themed outfit, as per his stylist’s wishes, which Eren can’t complain about since Levi looks like he walked out of a fairytale in his meticulously tailored ensemble. A clash of silver and obsidian that only serve to accentuate his iridescent eyes framed with straight, thick, lashes 

Sometimes Eren wishes that Levi would just show some semblance of annoyance with his behavior, just to prove all of his self-loathing. To prove that he is just being stupidly irrational. 

Eren tries again, fingers shaking so badly that the button slips from his grasp, “No.” He replies stubbornly. 

He had forgone tying his tie, as shown with the silk fabric hanging limply around his neck, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to do anything without calming the fuck down first. 

Levi huffs, conveniently ignoring his reply, and slides in front of the reporter. Gently, he starts to reposition the tie, making careful work not so much as to brush against the nape of Eren’s neck. Sea green eyes stare down at Levi, softening into a tender gaze indulging in the sight of his boyfriend’s deft hands, proliferated with small silvery scars practiced motions somehow making tying a tie an otherworldly occurrence. The small brushes against Eren’s clothed chest did nothing to stop his shaking, but a welcome feeling nonetheless. 

Not unkindly, he shoos Eren’s hands away from his previous obstacle, and buttons up the reporter’s suit in one fell swoop. 

Although he did appreciate Levi’s care, the tips of his ears burned in embarrassment. A tinge of shame slices through his heart. After three years of knowing this man, he never ceases to enamor him. 

“Thanks,” Eren’s gaze is half-lidded, fringed with long lashes as he speaks lowly, refusing to raise his voice any louder in fear of ruining the moment. 

Levi shakes his head, and his hands drift to grasp his boyfriend’s, bringing his trembling knuckles up to his smirk, “You better be, Brat.” 

The reporter huffs a quiet laugh, trying to mask the still slight tremors wracking his body to no avail. 

Levi opens his mouth to say something else, but a shrill ring sounds from their nightstand. The CEO presses another soothing kiss onto Eren’s knuckles, before hesitantly relinquishing his hold. 

He moves to their nightstand, and Eren takes the time to compose himself, “Yes? Hanji?” 

Smoothing out the nonexistent wrinkles in his suit jacket, listening to the small tidbits of conversation that he can get. The intrusive reporter in him is crying for more information about his boyfriend’s work life, seeing that he occasionally comes home with injuries that can only be explained by a mad-scientist’s failed experiments. And although Eren loves Hanji like family, he wants to chide the scientist for being so reckless. 

“Yeah, yeah,” Levi rolls his eyes, “You have a deal, shitty four-eyes. Don’t fuck it up.” And with that he hangs up the phone, stuffing it in his pants pocket. 

Levi then makes a move, taking their masks from the top drawer of their nightstand. 

He slips on the silver mask, an asymmetric one where only one half is solid and ornate while the other seems to have been chopped off at the bottom of the eye socket, leaving it a gaping hole where the rest should be. It makes Eren’s stomach churn at how incompletely grotesque it looks. But he has a feeling that it was his paranoia obstructing his vision. Just yesterday he thought the mask looked beautiful. 

Eren allows Levi to slide the golden mask on his face, the cool metal slightly jolting his overheated skin, numbly, he realizes that the mask is made of gold. The intricate swoops and patterns remind the vigilante of lace, an intricately subtle work of art. Levi’s deft fingers work again to tie the golden jewelry at the back of his head, still evading the nape of the reporter’s neck with graceful ease. 

“Are you ready?” Levi asks, looking up at him, even shrouded by a mask his gaze still pierces. 

“Yes,” Eren smirks lightly. “Are you?” 

Levi sighs tiredly, “Fuck no.” 

Eren huffs a laugh, tremors slowly reducing, reluctant to pop the little bubble they’ve cultivated, “Then,” He holds his arm out for Levi to loop around, “Your limo awaits, Your Highness.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the mini hiatus, I just needed to put some brainpower in this chaotic mess lol. Blame it on my lack of serotonin and abundance of coffee. Either way... 
> 
> Stan Mikasa or perish. 
> 
> Kudos for reading to the end of the chapter here have a shocked Erwin, Hanji, and Levi face (⊙.⊙(☉̃ₒ☉)⊙.⊙)
> 
> If anyone wants to check out my:  
> Tumblr: losticarus510  
> Instagram: losticarus510  
> And my other Ereri/Riren fic "Heads or Tails" (I told you I wanted to write a Little Mermaid AU)  
> All comments and Kudos are highly appreciated, I'm already blown away by the amount of Kudos and hits that I've gotten!


	10. Chapter 10: Masquerading, Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thank you regular_john for beta reading!  
> Trigger warning: mentions of substance abuse

Eren plucks a glass of russet liquid from Levi’s grasp. 

When they stepped into the venue, Levi’s outlandish outfit had turned mundane with the barrage of brightly colored wigs, tuxes, and huge ball gowns sweeping the floor. The atmosphere felt nearly dystopian; the fairytale aesthetic and modern elements clashed together creating a cacophony of colors. 

Eren scanned the room for exits and men who seemed strange… or at least normal. 

He masked his internal scrutiny with a resounding gasp, as he gazed with wide eyes around the ballroom, making note of the placement of the restrooms. 

It was a type of naive wonder that can only come from someone who is so wholly simple-minded that he couldn’t even fathom a place as lavish as this.

He merely glanced at the ornate crystal chandelier adorning the ceiling; pointedly ignoring the feeling of those crystals slicing into the soft flesh of his palms. 

Levi placed a scarred hand atop of his, quelling the tremors wracking through his body. Eren’s fingers had been digging in his palm as they balled into fists, the bloody crescents carved into his palms steamed, small whisps dissipating between his fingers. 

Eren pouted internally, knowing that despite his best efforts, his boyfriend will always be able to read him like a children’s story. 

There had been a time where Eren naturally expressed every emotion he felt at any given time. He was tactless and stupidly emotional and every fight he would get in would somehow end in tears, whether he won or lost. It was comical,  _ he _ was comical. 

If he could meet his fifteen-year-old self, he’d probably just stare blankly at him. What could he say to a teenager who went through hell only to stare at the ashes? 

Levi, juxtaposed to Eren, quickly adjusts to the room, expertly weaving the two of them through the crowd and exchanging pleasantries when needed. Women and men alike swarm around him, grasping to burrow their way under his skin with business cards and flirtatious winks, none of which Eren truly paid to mind. He knows where Levi’s heart lies since he was the one clutching it. 

Everyone said that the CEO was hard to read, but Eren never saw it. From the crook of his mouth to the slight furrow of his brow, he always had a tell. Although he never fidgets with anything, his arms stay relatively still and his stance firm. Some would say it made him an imposing figure, but Eren only found it endearing and maybe a bit concerning. 

Levi lived in a world where fidgeting or showing any type of emotion other than apathy was punished, it was a sign of weakness. At a young age, he hid the parts of himself that he needed and capitalized on the ones that would ensure his survival. A child should never have to go through as much as Levi had, but he did, and there was nothing to do about it now. 

The vigilante will never understand the breadth of Levi’s pain, and he didn’t need to. He’s willing to take whatever scraps of the past Levi is willing to share and nothing more or less. Eren didn’t pity Levi, but he mourned the child he never got to be. He mourned for both of them, and that could be enough. 

It had to be. 

After settling in for the night, Eren managed to calm his nerves, continuously reminding himself that no giant was going to appear out of nowhere and devour Levi or Armin for that matter. If it somehow did happen, he’d be prepared.

Or at least strong enough to get them out of there.

Levi grumbles a string of profanities as Eren narrowly outmaneuvers his boyfriend’s clutches. 

Eren spars a glance towards Armin at the opposite side of the room, his bright eyes crinkle fondly over something Erwin had said. No care in the world for a man who was hunting down arms dealers. 

“Hanji told me you weren’t allowed to drink tonight.” Eren raises an eyebrow, the glass of liquid courage barely out of Levi’s reach. 

Levi rolls his gunmetal eyes and Eren’s tempted to throw caution to the wind. 

Smirking, “I’m not a fucking child brat,”

Eren perches next to Levi on a leather barstool, the absurdly polished wooden bar filled with custom crystal liquor bottles filled with even more expensive liquor. 

Knowing his boyfriend, the russet liquid Eren has managed to pilfer was probably something french, with insanely high alcohol content. 

Eren smiles slightly, “Neither am I.” He shrugs and takes a swig of the foul liquid, suppressing a grimace, “Either way, doctor’s orders. I can’t do shit about it.” 

“I can hold my liquor.” Levi scoffs incredulously, “You can relay that to four-eyes.”   
It’s Eren’s turn to roll his eyes, “I’m not your employee. I’m just a concerned citizen.” He gulps down the rest of the abhorred liquid, too sweet, yet too bitter; not noticing the way Levi’s eyes trail down the line of his adam’s apple. 

“You’re my boyfriend.” Levi nearly growls, not as miffed as he tried to make it out as. 

Adorable. 

Eren’s eyes briefly scan the dance floor and the clusters of people, honing in on his target before devoting all of his attention back to his boyfriend. 

Humming, Eren leans towards his boyfriend and slips his face into the crook of his neck, closing his eyes and breathing in the smell of their soap as though it would be the last time. 

Maybe it would be. 

He knows Levi isn’t too keen on public displays of affection. But right now he needed something more to ground him to the earth. 

“Yeah, that too.” Eren breathes, his warm breath ghosting Levi’s frigid skin. 

Instead of pushing away, the CEO seemed to melt into the embrace, stroking Eren’s back with familiar fingers as the other indiscreetly pressed a cluster of minuscule kisses onto the crook of his neck. 

They got increasingly more fervent as he moved from his hiding spot. Before he knew it, Levi was grasping at his suit jacket, uncaring of the wrinkles left in his wake as Eren nibbles at his earlobe. Eren’s hand mindlessly stroking his boyfriend’s muscled thigh. 

Levi’s breath hitches and Eren takes it as a cue to pause his ministrations, pressing a soothing kiss to the point of Levi’s jaw. The CEO slackens his grip and allows Eren to slip out, no matter how reluctant both parties were. 

Thankfully enough, the bar was nearly empty with the abundance of champagne being passed around by various waitresses and waiters; the bartender had stepped out presumably for a smoke break or something of that nature. 

“I’ll be back.” Eren’s lips now grazing Levi’s, their foreheads pressed together, and their breaths intermingling. 

The vigilante surmised that this impromptu teasing session failed to ground him and instead made his head fuzzier than any of Levi’s beverages combined. 

Eren concedes both of them have an unhealthy addiction. 

“Where to?” Levi asked breathlessly. 

“I need to piss.” Eren smirks, and Levi’s eyebrow twitches.

He puffs a laugh, “You’re an asshole,” the CEO says as he nudges Eren back. 

Eren’s smirk deepens, “And you like it.”   
Levi shrugs and crosses his legs, “Go. Before I start buying you diapers. What are you, nine months?” 

Eren flips him off as he leaves. 

In a vanilla tinted hallway, Eren pulls out his phone and starts his tracking. Since they were on a budget, Armin stuffed his phone into a duffle bag filled with Eren’s disguise in order for Eren to track where he put it. 

He figures this new method may not be as good as he originally thought because the app kept on saying that Armin’s phone was in the women’s restroom. 

Decidedly, he’d check the woman’s bathroom. Surprisingly enough, the neat marble room was bereft of anyone, he had come at the most opportune time. 

Dashing into the tracked stall, he spots the tell-tale loosened tile and stands on the toilet to reach it. 

Surely this couldn’t mean what he thought it did. 

Easing the battered duffle bag into his lap without much trouble with the help of his particular abilities.

Unzipping the bag, Eren wanted to pummel his brother. 

They had agreed on a  _ suit  _ this time. 

Levi shakes himself from his daze, adjusting to the warmth Eren left lingering on his skin. 

Damn that brat for distracting him, Hanji must’ve put him up to it. 

He suppresses a spike of shame threatening to churn his guts.  _ He knows. He knows _ . He knows why his friends and boyfriend were so anal about his supposed borderline alcoholism, another product of his mid-twenties he can’t seem to curb to this day. 

Levi had never wanted to become a degenerate drunk, his first memories engrained what those bastards could do; what they did to his mother. 

And yet here he is, living for his next drink; another bourbon, eau de vie, or vodka. It didn’t matter. 

His first instinct, when another man took a bullet for him, wasn’t to do something healthy like express his feelings to one of his two confidants. 

It was to grab a bottle of bourbon in the middle of a workday and chug it. 

Fucking shit. 

He’s a mess. 

Give a grieving man a billion dollars and he’ll destroy the whole world or himself.

How Eren could ever love him, Levi could never fathom it. No matter how many times his sea-green eyes bored into his. No matter how many times his scorching touch bordered reverence. No matter how many times he said “I love you”. 

Maybe Eren Yeager was more insane than he let on, Levi thinks mirthlessly, reaching for the empty glass he had left. 

Levi sighs, he spotted the arms’ dealers ages ago; they’re obviously posturing. Their rigid stances and dull suits make them stick out like a sore thumb. 

For such revered and credible arms dealers, they’re sloppy. 

Levi grinds his teeth, Hanji has lectured him on dental health time and time again, but he really doesn’t give a damn. 

There was one thing he hated more than people selling  _ his  _ weapons on the black market, and that was inadequacy. 

If they have the audacity to fucking uproot people’s lives and flood the underground with weapons at the behest of a cowardly mob boss who refused to do the dirty work himself. Then they better do it right. 

But no. 

These men, if he could even give such lowly germs that title, are just begging for their asses to be thrown in jail. 

And Phoenix was always weak to begging. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next week we get into the showdown.  
> Sorry, I've been putting this chapter off, hopefully, I can get back into a regular posting schedule in the following weeks.  
> Kudos for making it to the end of the chapter, here have an Historia face (✿◠‿◠)  
> All the comments and kudos are greatly appreciated! Any questions about this Au are always welcome  
> If anyone wants to check out my:  
> Tumblr: losticarus510  
> Instagram: losticarus510  
> All comments and Kudos are greatly appreciated!


End file.
